
Shelf.iH.Q- 



UNITED STATES OF AMEBIOA. 




^ /. 



METHODIST 

STANDARD HOLINESS GEMS 

WITH MANY ADDITIONAL ARTICLES, 

ORIGINAL AND SELECTED; 

INCLUDING ALSO 

OLD AND NEW TESTAMENT CONSPECTUS 
OF HOLINESS. 



/ 



REV. JAMES HOBBS, 

Of the Southern Illinois Conference Methodist Episcopal 

Church ; Author of " Little Preacher," "Open Secret 

— Mists of Masonic Mysteries," and " Bible 

Holiness Keepsake." 



;i What thing soever I command you, observe to 

DO IT I THOU SHALT NOT ADD THERETO, NOR DIMINISH 

from it."— Deut. xii : S2. 



NEW YORK 
PALMER & HUi 
62 & 64 Bible 



V 




( 



Copyright, 1888, by James Hobbs. 



The Library 
of Congress 



WASHINGTON 



Press of J. J. Little & Co., 
Astor Place, New York. 



PREFATORY NOTE. 

ALL will freely admit that Solomon spake truly 
- when he said : "Of making many books 
there is no end." A book with no laudable or 
commendable reason for existence, or mission to 
perform, is simply imposed on the reading public. 
And as "much study is a weariness of the flesh," 
and as there is already a superabundance of poison- 
ous and trashy, injurious and profitless reading 
matter, no person has, or ever will have, a moral 
right to spread oyer these lands aught that is not 
purifying and elevating in its character, nature, 
and design. The purpose of this book of Gems 
is to do good, by embodying in a small compass, 
proofs abundant and strong to the Christian world 
generally, that holiness, entire and complete de- 
liverance from all sin, comes to all of God's chil- 
dren, both as an immediate duty and as a present 
and glorious privilege ; and to the Methodist people 
specifically as individuals and as a Church, that 
this is their own peculiarly chosen and cherished 
doctrine. It has been well said, by one who could 
say it well, that : " If Methodists give up this doc- 
trine and experience, or suffer such to become a 
dead letter, they are a fallen people. It is this 
that inflames zeal, diffuses life, rouses to action, 



IV PREFATORY KOTE. 

prompts to perseverance, and urges the soul for- 
ward to every holy exercise and every useful work. 
Holiness is the main cord that binds us 

TOGETHER." 

True Holiness affords the best possible vantage- 
ground for the soul and a position of the greatest 
security this side of the glory world. True Holi- 
ness begins in the soul the moment of conversion ; 
and the reason so few in the professed Christian 
life are caring and looking after and obtaining 
this precious boon from God, is that they have be- 
come dull of hearing, satisfied with their worldly 
conformity, and notwithstanding they are still 
holding on to their profession and church member- 
ship, they are living, contentedly living, and 
blindly, too, below the standard where sanctifica- 
tion or true holiness begins, i. e. 9 below true con- 
version. let us diligently look into God's word 
and our standards, and amend from this very hour. 
God bless the reader ! Amen. Farewell. 

James Hobbs. 



METHODIST STANDARD HOLINESS GEMS. 



PART I. 

Our first class of Gems is selected from our 
Book of Discipline, and are as follows : 

{From the Episcopal Address, page 3.) 

Dearly Beloved Brethren : We 
think it expedient to give you a brief ac- 
count of the rise of Methodism, both in 
Europe and America. " In 1729 two young 
men in England, reading the Bible, saw 
they could not be saved without holiness ; 
followed after it ; and incited others so to 
do. In 1737 they saw, likewise, that men 
are justified before they are sanctified : but 
still holiness was their object. God then 
thrust them out to raise a holy people." 
These are the words of John and Charles 
Wesley. 

{From same Address, page 4.) 

We believe that God's design in raising 
up the Methodist Episcopal Church in 



6 METHODIST STAKDAKD 

America, was to reform the continent and 
spread Scriptural Holiness over these lands. 



Be serious. Let your motto be, " Holi- 
ness to the Lord." Avoid all lightness, 
jesting, and foolish talking. — Rules for 
Preachers. Paragraph 110. 



Observe, it is not your business only to 
preach so many times, and to take care of 
this or that Society, but to save as many 
as you can ; to bring as many sinners as 
you can to repentance, and with all your 
power to build them up in that holiness 
without which they cannot see the Lord. 
And remember ! a Methodist preacher is 
to mind every point, great and small, in 
the Methodist Discipline ! Therefore you 
will need to exercise all the sense and 
grace you have. — Pities for Preachers. 
Paragraph 119. 

The most effectual way of preaching 
Christ is to preach Him in all His offices ; 
and to declare His law, as well as His Gos- 
pel, both to believers and unbelievers. Let 
us strongly and closely insist upon inward 



HOLINESS GEMS. 

and outward holiness in all its branches.- 
Manner of Preaching. Paragraph 138. 



Other reasons may concur, but the chief 
reason that the people under our care are 
not better, is, because we are not more 
knowing and more holy. Why are we not 
more holy ? why do we not live in eternity ? 
walk with God all the day long ? why are 
we not all devoted to God, breathing the 
whole spirit of missionaries ? Chiefly be- 
cause we are enthusiasts ; looking for the 
end without using the means. To touch 
only upon two or three instances : Who of 
us rise at four, or even at five, when we do 
not preach ? Do we know the obligation 
and benefit of fasting or abstinence ? How 
often do we practice it ? The neglect of 
this alone is sufficient to account for our 
feebleness and faintness of spirit. We are 
continually grieving the Holy Spirit of God 
by the habitual neglect of a plain duty. 
Let us amend from this hour. — Manner of 
Preachers' Lives. Paragraph ISO. 



In receiving a Preacher at the Confer- 
ence into Full Connection, after solemn 



8 METHODIST STANDARD 

fasting and prayer, every person proposed 
shall be asked, before the Conference, the 
following questions, with any others which 
may be thought necessary, namely : 

1. Have you faith in Christ ? 

2. Are you going on to perfection ? 

3. Do you expect to be made perfect in 
love in this life ? 

4. Are you earnestly striving after it ? 
— Receiving Preachers into Conference. 
Paragraph 157. 



Almighty, Everliving God, whose most 
dearly beloved Son Jesus Christ, for the 
forgiveness of our sins, did shed out of His 
most precious side both water and blood ; 
and gave commandment to His disciples 
that they should go teach all nations, and 
baptize them in the name of the Father, 
and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost ; 
regard, we beseech Thee, our supplications ; 
and grant that the persons now to be bap- 
tized may receive the fullness of Thy grace, 
and ever remain in the number of Thy 
faithful and elect children, through Jesus 
Christ our Lord. Amen. — Baptism. Par- 
agraph Jfi2. 



Hoioress bk 

The ends of this fellowship are, the 
maintenan onnd doctrine and of the 

ordinan Christian worship, and the 

of that power of godly admonition 
and discipline which C >mmitted 

to II.- C hurch for th . 

— Reception of Members into the 
vreh. Paragraph 408. 



Among itfl P. - ... . : v.liar inc 

ments to holiness from the hearing of Gk 
word and sharing in Ohri iinanc-;: : 

the being placed under the watchful es 

Pastors : and the enjoyment of the bless- 
ings which are promised only to those who 

,- of the Household of Faith. — Reception 
of Members into the Church. Paragraph 
V>S. 

Collect. — Almighty God, unto whom all 
hearts are open, all desires known, and 
from whom no secrets are hid ; cleanse the 
thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration 

Thy Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly 
love Thee, and worthily magnify Thy holy 
name, through Jesus Christ our Lord. 
Amen. — Used in administration of Thee 
Lord's Supper. Paragraph #04. 



10 METHODIST STANDARD 

Our Church ardently prays for Christian 
Perfection or perfect love in this life, in 
the well-known Collect in the Communion 
service : " Cleanse the thoughts of our 
hearts by the inspiration of Thy Holy 
Spirit, that we may perfectly love Thee and 
worthily magnify Thy holy name, through 
Jesus Christ our Lord." Here we see: 
(1) The nature of Christian perfection : it 
is perfect love. (2) The seat of this per- 
fect love : a heart cleansed in its own 
thoughts. (3) The blessed effect of it : 
a worthy magnifying of God's holy name. 
(4) Its author, God, of whom the blessing 
is asked. (5) The immediate agent of it : 
His holy spirit. And (6) and lastly, the 
gracious procurer of it : our Lord Jesus 
Christ. — John Fletcher. 



PART II. 

Our second class of Gems is from the author- 
ized Catechism of our Church, Number 
One. From Question 57 to 61. 

57. What is sanctification ? 

Sanctification is that act of Divine grace 
whereby we are made holy. — 1 Thess. v : 23; 
Eph. i : 4 ; Col. i : 22 ; Heb. xiii : 12. 

58. May every believer be wholly sanctified in 
this life ? 

Yes ; God's command is, " Be ye holy, 
for I am holy ; " and His promise is, that 
" if we confess our sins/' He will " cleanse 
11s from all unrighteousness." — 1 Peter i: 
16 ; 1 Thess. iv : 3 ; 1 John i : 9. 

59. What is implied in being a perfect Chris- 
Hem, or in being wholly sanctified ? 

Loving God with all our heart and soul, 
mind and strength, and our neighbor as 
ourselves. 

60. Is it possible for a justified or a sanctified 
Christian to fall from grace and perish ? 

It is ; for even the Apostle Paul feared 



12 METHODIST STANDARD 

lest, after having preached to others, he 
himself should be a castaway. — 1 Cor. ix: 27. 

61. How shall we guard against the danger 
of falling from grace ? 

By watchfulness, prayer, and a life of 
faith in the Son of God. 



PART III. 

Our third class of material comes from our 
latest Regular Standard Church Hymnal. 

Thirsting for perfect love. 

1 I thirst, thou wounded Lamb of God, 
To wash me in thy cleansing blood ; 

To dwell within thy wounds ; then pain 
Is sweet, and life or death is gain. 

2 Take my poor heart, and let it be 
Forever closed to all but thee : 

Seal thou my breast, and let me wear 
That pledge of love forever there. 

5 How can it be, thou heavenly King, 
That thou shouldst us to glory bring? 
Make slaves the partners of thy throne, 
Decked with a never-fading crown ? 

6 Hence our hearts melt, our eyes o'erflow, 
Our words are lost, nor will we know, 
Nor will we think of aught beside, 

" My Lord, my Love is crucified." 

Te. by J. Wesley. Hymn U61—1, 0, 5 and 6 v. 



Dedication to God. 
My soul and all its powers 

Thine, wholly thine, shall be 
All, all my happy hours 

I consecrate to thee: 



14 METHODIST STANDARD 

Me to thine image now restore, 
And I shall praise thee evermore. 

2 Long as I live beneath, 

To thee let me live ; 
To thee my every breath 

In thanks and praises give : 
Whate'er I have, whate'er I am, 
Shall magnify my Maker's name. 

3 I wait thy will to do, 

As angels do in heaven; 
In Christ a creature new, 

Most graciously forgiven; 
I wait thy perfect will to prove, 
All sanctified by spotless love. 



Hymn U72, 



Self-consecration. 

1 Lord, in the strength of grace, 

With a glad heart and free, 
Myself, my residue of days, 
I consecrate to thee. 

2 Thy ransomed servant, I 

Restore to thee thine own ; 

And from this moment live or die 

To serve my G-od alone. 

Eymn his. 

A living sacrifice. 

God, what offering shall I give 
To thee, the Lord of earth and skies ? 

My spirit, soul, and flesh receive, 
A holy, living sacrifice : 



HOLINESS GEMS. 15 

Small as it is, 'tis all my store ; 

More shouldst thou have if I had more. 

Hymn U7U—lst v. 

The law of love, 

1 The thing my Gfod doth hate 

That I no more may do, 
Thy creature, Lord, again create, 
And all my soul renew : 

2 My soul shall then, like thine, 

Abhor the thing unclean, 
And, sanctified by love divine, 
Forever cease from sin. 

Hymn k82—lst and 2d v. 



Cut short the work in righteousness. 

1 Saviour of the sin-sick soul, 
Give me faith to make me whole ; 
Finish thy great work of grace ; 
Cut it short in righteousness. 

2 Speak the second time, " Be clean I " 
Take away my inbred sin ; 

Every stumbling-block remove ; 
Cast it out by perfect love. 

Hymn ISO— 1st and 2d v. 



Following the Saviour. 

thou, to whose all-searching sight 
The darkness shine th as the light, 
Search, prove my heart, it pants for thee ; 
burst these bonds, and set it free. 



16 METHODIST STANDAKD 

2 Wash out its stains, refine its dross, 
Nail my affections to the cross ; 
Hallow each thought ; let all within 
Be clean, as thou, my Lord, art clean. 

Hymn U96—lst and 2d v. 



The seed of sin's disease, 

Spirit of health, remove, 
Spirit of finished holiness, 

Spirit of perfect love. 

Hymn 502— 2d V. 



2 Come, then, for Jesus' sake, 

And bid my heart be clean ; 
An end of all my troubles make, 
An end of all my sin. 

3 I cannot wash my heart, 

But by believing thee, 
And waiting for thy blood to impart 
The spotless purity. 

Hymn 503— 2d and 3d v. 



3 I rest upon thy word ; 

The promise is for me ; 
My succor and salvation, Lord, 

Shall surely come from thee : 
But let me still abide, 

Nor from my hope remove, 

Till thou my patient spirit guide 

Into thy perfect love. 

Hymn 506— 3d v. 



HOLINESS GEMS. 17 

1 Lord, I believe a rest remains 

To all thy people known ; 
A rest where pure enjoyment reigns, 
And thou art loved alone: 

2 A rest where all our soul's desire 

Is fixed on things above ; 
Where fear, and sin, and grief expire, 
Cast out by perfect love. 

3 that I now the rest might know, 

Believe, and enter in ! 
Now, Saviour, now the power bestow, 
And let me cease from sin. 

Hymn 513. 



1 Jesus, at thy feet we wait, 

Till thou shalt bid us rise, 
Restored to our unsinning state, 
To love's sweet paradise. 

2 Saviour from sin, we thee receive, 

From all indwelling sin ; 
Thy blood, we steadfastly believe, 
Shall make us throughly clean. 

3 Since thou wouldst have us free from sin, 

And pure as those above, 
Make haste to bring thy nature in, 
And perfect us in love. 

4 The counsel of thy love fulfill : 

Come quickly, gracious Lord! 
Be it according to thy will, 
According to thy word. 



18 METHODIST STASTDAKD 

5 that the perfect grace were given, 

Thy love diffused abroad ! 

that our hearts were all a heaven, 

Forever filled with God ! 

Hymn 51U. 

1 joyful sound of gospel grace ! 

Christ shall in me appear ; 
I, even I, shall see his face, 
I shall be holy here. 

2 The glorious crown of righteousness 

To me reached out I view : 
Conqueror through him, I soon shall seize, 
And wear it as my due. 

3 The promised land, from Pisgah's top, 

I now exult to see : 
My hope is full, glorious hope I 
Of immortality. 

4 With me, I know, I feel thou art ; 

But this cannot suffice, 
Unless thou plantest in my heart 
A constant paradise. 

5 Come, my God, thyself reveal, 

Fill all this mighty void : 

Thou only canst my spirit fill ; 

Come, my God, my God ! 

Hymn 515. 

1 Let worldly minds the world pursue ; 
It has no charms for me : 
Once I admired its trifles too, 
But grace hath set me free. 



HOLINESS GEMS. 19 

2 Its pleasures can no longer please, 

Nor happiness afford : 
Far from my heart be joys like these, 
Now I have seen the Lord. 

3 As by the light of opening day 

The stars are all concealed, 
So earthly pleasures fade away, 
When Jesus is revealed. 

4 Creatures no more divide my choice ; 

I bid them all depart : 

His name, his love, his gracious voice, 

Have fixed my roving heart. 

Hymn 516, 



1 Jesus, thine all- victorious love 

Shed in my heart abroad : 
Then shall my feet no longer rove, 
Rooted and fixed in God. 

2 that in me the sacred fire 

Might now begin to glow, 
Burn up the dross of base desire, 
And make the mountains flow ! 

3 that it now from heaven might fall, 

And all my sin consume ! 
Come, Holy Ghost, for thee I call; 
Spirit of burning, come ! 

4 Refining fire, go through my heart ; 

Illuminate my soul ; 
Scatter thy life through every part, 
And sanctify the whole. 



20 METHODIST STANDARD 

5 My steadfast soul, from falling free, 

Shall then no longer move, 

"While Christ is all the world to me, 

And all my heart is love. 

Hymn 518. 

5 Scatter the last remains of sin, 

And seal me thine abode ; 

make me glorious all within, 

A temple built of G-od ! 

Hymn 519— 5th v. 

1 for a heart to praise my God, 

A heart from sin set free ! 
A heart that always feels thy blood, 
So freely spilt for me! 

2 A heart resigned, submissive, meek, 

My great Reedemer's throne ; 
Where only Christ is heard to speak, 
Where Jesus reigns alone. 

3 for a lowly, contrite heart, 

Believing, true, and clean, 
Which neither life nor death can part 
From him that dwells within ! 

4 A heart in every thought renewed, 

And full of love divine ; 
Perfect, and right, and pure, and good, 
A copy, Lord, of thine. 

5 Thy nature, gracious Lord, impart ; 

Come quickly from above ; 

Write thy new name upon my heart, 

Thy new, best name of Love. 

Hymn 521, 



HOLINESS GE^TS. 21 

2 I want thy life, thy purity, 

Thy righteousness, brought in: 
I ask, desire, and trust in thee 
To be redeemed from sin. 

3 Saviour, to thee my soul looks up, 

My present Saviour thou ! 

In all the confidence of hope, 

I claim the blessing now. 

4 'Tis done! thou dost this moment save, 

With full salvation bless ; 
Redemption through thy blood I have, 
And spotless love and peace. 

Hymn 522— 2d, 3d, and hth v. 



1 God of eternal truth and grace, 

Thy faithful promise seal ; 
Thy word, thy oath, to Abrah'm's race, 
In me, Lord, fulfill. 

2 That mighty faith on me bestow, 

Which cannot ask in vain, 
Which holds, and will not let thee go, 
Till I my suit obtain : 

3 Till thou into my soul inspire 

The perfect love unknown ; 
And tell my infinite desire, 

" Whate'er thou wilt, be done." 

4 But is it possible that I 

Should live, and sin no more? 
Lord, if on thee I dare rely, 
The faith shall bring the power. 



22 METHODIST STANDARD 

5 On me the faith divine bestow 

Which doth the mountain move ; 
And all my spotless life shall show 
The omnipotence of love. 

Hymn 



4 Now let me gain perfection's height; 
Now let me into nothing fall, 
As less than nothing in thy sight, 
And feel that Christ is all in all. 

Hymn 525— hth v. 



1 He wills that I should holy be : 

That holiness I long to feel ; 
That full divine conformity 
To all my Saviour's righteous will. 

2 See, Lord, the travail of thy soul 

Accomplished in the change of mine ; 
And plunge me, every whit made whole, 
In all the depths of love divine. 

3 On thee, God, my soul is stayed, 

And waits to prove thine utmost will ; 
The promise by thy mercy made, 
Thou canst, thou wilt, in me fulfill. 

4 No more I stagger at thy power, 

Or doubt thy truth, which cannot move: 
Hasten the long-expected hour, 
And bless me with thy perfect love. 

Hymn i 



HOLINESS GEMS. 23 

1 God, most merciful and true, 

Thy nature to my soul impart ; 
'Stablish with me the covenant new, 
And stamp thine image on my heart. 

2 To real holiness restored, 

let me gain my Saviour's mind ; 
And in the knowledge of my Lord, 
Fullness of life eternal find. 

Hymn 531— 1st and 2d v. 



1 What ! never speak one evil word, 

Or rash, or idle, or unkind ! 
how shall I, most gracious Lord, 
This mark of true perfection find ? 

2 Thy sinless mind in me reveal ; 

Thy Spirit's plenitude impart ; 
And all my spotless life shall tell 
The abundance of a loving heart. 

Hymn 532— 1st and 2d v. 



1 Forever here my rest shall be, 

Close to thy bleeding side ; 
This all my hope, and all my plea, 
" For me the Saviour died." 

2 My dying Saviour, and my God, 

Fountain for guilt and sin, 
Sprinkle me ever with thy blood, 
And cleanse and keep me clean. 



24 METHODIST STAKDAKD 

3 Wash me, and make me thus thine own ; 

Wash me, and mine thou art ; 
Wash me, but not my feet alone, 
My hands, my head, my heart. 

4 The atonement of thy blood apply, 

Till faith to sight improve ; 

Till hope in full fruition die, 

And all my soul be love. 

Hymn 533. 

1 I ask the gift of righteousness, 

The sin-subduing power ; 
Power to believe, and go in peace, 
And never grieve thee more. 

2 I ask the blood-bought pardon sealed, 

The liberty from sin, 
The grace infused, the love revealed, 
The kingdom fixed within. 

3 Thou hear'st me for salvation pray ; 

Thou seest my heart's desire ; 
Made ready in thy powerful day, 
Thy fullness I require. 

4 My restless soul cries out, oppressed, 

Impatient to be freed ; 
Nor can I, Lord, nor will I rest, 
Till I am saved indeed. 

5 Thou canst, thou wilt, I dare believe, 

So arm me with thy power, 

That I to sin may never cleave, 

May never feel it more. 

Hymn 535. 



HOLINESS GEMS. 25 

1 My God, I know, I feel thee mine, 

And will not quit my claim, 
Till all I have is lost in thine, 
And all renewed I am. 

2 I hold thee with a trembling hand, 

And will not let thee go, 
Till steadfastly by faith I stand, 
And all thy goodness know. 

3 Love only can the conquest win, 

The strength of sin subdue : ' 
Come, my Saviour, cast out sin, 
And form my soul anew. 

4 No longer then my heart shall mourn, 

While, sanctified by grace, 

I only for thy glory burn, 

And always see thy face. 

Hymn 536. 



1 What is our calling's glorious hope 

But inward holiness ? 
For this to Jesus I look up ; 
I calmly wait for this. 

2 I wait till he shall touch me clean, 

Shall life and power impart, 
Give me the faith that casts out sin, 
And purifies the heart. 

3 When Jesus makes my heart his home, 

My sin shall all depart ; 
And, lo ! he saith, "I quickly come, 
To fill and rule thy heart." 



26 METHODIST STANDARD 

4 Be it according to thy word ; 
Redeem me from all sin ; 
My heart would now receive thee, Lord ; 
Come in, my Lord, come in ! 

Hymn 539. 



1 glorious hope of perfect love ! 
It lifts me up to things above ; 

It bears on eagle's wings ; 
It gives my ravished soul a taste, 
And makes me for some moments feast 

With Jesus' priests and kings. 

2 Rejoicing now in earnest hope, 

I stand, and from the mountain top 

See all the land below ; 
Rivers of milk and honey rise, 
And all the fruits of paradise 

In endless plenty grow. 

3 A land of corn, and wine, and oil, 
Favored with God's peculiar smile, 

With every blessing blest ; 
There dwells the Lord our Righteousness, 
And keeps his own in perfect peace, 

And everlasting rest. 

4 that I might at once go up ; 
No more on this side Jordan stop, 

But now the land possess ; 

This moment end my legal years, 

Sorrows and sins, and doubts and fears. 

A howling wilderness ! 

Hymn 5U2, 



HOLINESS GEMS. 27 

1 Help, Lord, to whom for help I fly, 
And still my tempted soul stand by 

Throughout the evil day ; 
The sacred watchfulness impart, 
And keep the issues of my heart, 

And stir me up to pray. 

2 3Iy soul with thy whole armor arm ; 
In each approach of sin alarm, 

And show the danger near : 
Surround, sustain, and strengthen me, 
And fill with godly jealousy 

And sanctifying fear. 

3 Whene'er my careless hands hang down, 
let me see thy gathering frown, 

And feel thy warning eye ; 
And, starting, cry, from ruin's brink, 
' ' Save, Jesus, or I yield, I sink ; 

save me, or I die." 

4 If near the pit I rashly stray, 
Before I wholly fall away, 

The keen conviction dart ; 
Recall me by that pitying look, 
That kind, upbraiding glance, which broke 

Unfaithful Peter's heart. 

5 In me thine utmost mercy show, 
And make me like thyself below, 

Unblamable in grace ; 
Ready prepared and fitted here, 
By perfect holiness, to appear 

Before thy glorious face. 

Hymn 5k3. 



28 METHODIST STANDARD 

2 Me with that restless thirst inspire, 
That sacred, infinite desire, 

And feast my hungry heart ; 
Less than thyself cannot suffice ; 
My soul for all thy fullness cries, 

For all thou hast and art. 

3 Jesus, the crowning grace impart ; 
Bless me with purity of heart, 

That, now beholding thee, 
I soon may view thy open face, 
On all thy glorious beauties gaze, 

And Grod forever see. 

Hymn 5k5—2d and 3d 



PART IV. 

The fourth part cf our present volume is made 
up from many and various sources, embrac- 
ing the teachings of true, and Simon pure, 
Methodist Standard writers and speakers. 
There are also other sparkling gems, from 
persons besides the above, both living and 
dead, and gems both in prose and poetry. 

Perfect Love happifies the soul exceed- 
ingly. — 2". G. 

Perfect Love places Jesus at the head of 
all our affairs. — 1. G. 



Perfect Love disarms Satan entirely. 
—I. G. 

Perfect Love gives easy victory over all 
temptation. — 1". G. 



Perfect Love is death to vacillation. 
—L G. 

Perfect Love concentrates our purposes, 
every one. — I. G. 



30 METHODIST STANDARD 

Perfect Love makes the Lord's Tvill our 
pleasure. — I. G. 

Perfect Love positively and emphatic- 
ally caps the climax of human redemption 
on earth, and gives us a heaven even here. 
Why not have it ?—L G. 



Purity. — " The pure in heart " are those 
whose hearts God hath purified even as He 
is pure ; who are purified through faith in 
the blood of Jesus, from every unholy 
affection; who, being "cleansed from all 
filthiness of the flesh and spirit, have per- 
fected holiness in the fear of God." They 
are, through the power of His grace, puri- 
fied from pride by the deepest poverty of 
spirit ; from anger, from every unkind or 
turbulent passion, by meekness and gentle- 
ness ; from every desire but to please and 
to enjoy God, and to know and love Him 
more and more : so that now they love the 
Lord their God, with all their heart, soul, 
mind, and strength, and their neighbor as 
themselves. — J. Wesley. 



Holy Courage. — Holy courage character- 
izes every true life. The possessor of this 



HOLINESS GEMS. 31 

life looks at the right and says, "With 
God's help I will do it." He never for a 
moment asks himself the question, " Will 
it affect my material interests ?'• but only, 
" Is it right ?" If the reply to this ques- 
tion is "Yes," he moves right on in the 
sacred path of duty, though it leads through 
a "burning fiery furnace," or a lion's den. 
The frowns of friends, or the threats of 
foes, move him not. His position is taken, 
and from it he will not be driven. When 
he approaches the portals of the tomb he 
exclaims, " I have fought a good fight," 
and when all that is mortal of him is low- 
ered into the grave, the very remembrance 
of his heroism calls forth the words, "There 
he lies who never feared the face of man." 
— Selected. 

When the Holy Spirit is communicated 
to the Church, we must not imagine that 
we shall be other than ourselves, enlarged, 
ennobled, and developed. The Spirit will 
not merge our individuality in a common 
monotony. Whatever your power is now, 
the incoming of the Holy Ghost will mag- 
nify and illuminate, so that your identity 
will not be lost, but will be carried up to 



32 METHODIST STAKDAKD 

its highest expression and magnificence. 
And more than that, not only will there 
be development of that which is ascer- 
tained and known, but there will be a 
development of latent faculties, slumber- 
ing powers, the existence of which has 
never been suspected by our dearest friends. 
"If any man be in Christ Jesus, he is a 
new creature ; old things have passed away, 
and all things have become new." Look 
for surprises in the Church when the Holy 
Ghost falls upon it ; dumb men will speak, 
ineloquent men will attract and fascinate 
by the sublimity of their new discourse ; 
timid men will put on the lion, and those 
who had hidden themselves away in the 
obscurity of conscious feebleness will come 
out and offer themselves at the Lord's 
altar to help in the Lord's service. — 
Joseph Parker. ' 

Are you saved from sin? "His name 
shall be Jesus, for He shall save His people 
from their sins." Are you saved from 
worldliness ? Are you saved from swear- 
ing ? Are you saved from cheating ? Are 
you saved from Sabbath-breaking ? Are 
you saved from Sabbath-visiting ? Hating 



HOLINESS GEMS. 33 

your brother ? Breaking promises ? Are 
you saved from pride ? Are you saved 
from backbiting and speaking evil of your 
neighbors ? Are you saved from anger ? 
Are you saved from covetousness ? Are 
you saved from worldly conformity, fol- 
lowing the fashions, etc. ? Are you saved 
from opposing the doctrine of sanctifica- 
tion ? Lord, search our hearts and make 
us to know if we are saved this moment 
from all sin. — Selected. 



Your tempers. How are they ? Do you 
become impatient under trial ; fretful, 
when chided or crossed; angry, revenge- 
ful when injured ; vain, when flattered ; 
proud, when prospered ; complaining, when 
chastened ; unbelieving, when seemingly 
forsaken ; unkind, when neglected ? Are 
you subject to discontent, to ambition, to 
selfishness ? Are you worldly ? Covetous 
of riches, of vain pomp and parade, of in- 
dulgence, of honor or ease ? Are you un- 
feeling, contemptuous of others, seeking 
your own, boasters, proud, lovers of your 
own selves ? Beware ! These are the 
sediments of the old nature. Nay, if they 
exist in you, in however small a degree, 



34 METHODIST STANDARD 

they are demonstrative that the old man 
of sin is not dead. It will be a sad mis- 
take if you detect these evils within, and 
yet close your eyes to them and continue 
to make professions of holiness. These are 
not infirmities ; they are indications of 
want of grace. — Bishop Foster. 



The Church. — Thousands of her mem- 
bers cast a momentary glance at their own 
hearts, and are flattered by the view, 
seeing nothing but virtue, where pride, 
avarice, envy, lust, and revenge have their 
undisturbed habitation. There are dangers 
before them, dangers in their worldly pros- 
perity, but they think it the best of for- 
tune ; danger in their levity, but they 
think it only innocent joy ; danger in 
their splendor of dress and equipage, but 
they think it only decency and good taste ; 
danger in their sumptuous entertainments, 
and fashionable amusements, but they re- 
gard them as essential modes of refine- 
ment. What is it to the Church that there 
are more than six hundred millions of 
deathless souls unaware of the revelation 
that God has made to man, of the bright 
glories of the heavenly world, or the 



HOLINESS GEMS. 35 

horrors of an endless hell ? — Jesse T. Peck, 
late Bishop. 

True repentance is this : I know sin 
to be wrong, ruinous to my soul, and an 
evil in God's sight ; by the help and grace 
of God, and trusting in His mercy through 
Christ for pardon, I will forsake sin in all 
the future. The amount of grief felt in 
view of sin, be it more or less, is a matter 
of secondary consequence and importance. 
The great thing is to turn from it, with 
a full purpose of heart to cleaye to the 
Lord. And yet there must be a sense of 
the enormity and sinfulness of sin, and of 
its ill desert, and this must be personal, 
and not only general, before there can or 
will be a genuine repentance, or turning 
away from sin, — Sel. 



My Wisdom and my Guide, 

My Counselor thou art : 
never let me leave thy side, 

Or from thy paths depart. 

Let me thy witness live, 

When sin is all destroyed ; 
And then my spotless soul receive, 

And take me home to God. 

Charles Wesley. 



36 METHODIST STANDARD 

Nothing so conserves revival fruits and 
efficiency as a work of holiness carried on 
parallel with the awakening or supplement- 
ary to it. It is what hardening is to the 
steel ; what ballast is to the ship ; what 
the striking of roots deep in the earth 
is to the tree. A revival will have per- 
manence just in the measure that there is 
blended with it a work of entire sanctifica- 
tion. The great revivals of the past will 
abide in their results and power just so far 
as they have been pervaded by the spirit of 
holiness. — Rev. 8. A. Keen. 



Rock of Ages. 

Rock of Ages, cleft for me, 

Let me hide myself in thee ; 

Let the water and the blood, 

From thy wounded side which flowed, 

Be of sin the double cure, 

Save from wrath and make me pure. 

Augustus M. Toplady. 



He wills that I should holy be ; 

What can withstand his will ? 
The counsel of his grace in me 

He surely shall fulfill. 

C. Wesley. 



HOLINESS GEMS. 37 

Breathe, breathe thy loving Spirit 

Into every troubled breast ! 
Let us all in thee inherit, 

Let us find that second rest. 
Take away our bent to sinning ; 

Alpha and Omega be ; 
End of faith, as its beginning, 

Set our hearts at liberty. 

C. Wesley. 



My Saviour, on the word of truth 

In earnest hope I live ; 
I ask for all the precious things 

Thy boundless love can give. 
I look for many a lesser light 

About my path to shine ; 
But chiefly long to walk with thee, 

And only trust in thine. 

Thou knowest that I am not blest 

As thou wouldst have me be, 
Till all the peace and joy of faith 

Possess my soul in thee ; 
And still I seek, 'mid many fears, 

With yearnings unexpressed, 
The comfort of thy strengthening love, 

Thy soothing, settling rest. 

It is not as thou wilt with me, 

Till, humbled in the dust, 
I know no place in all my heart 

Wherein to put my trust : 



38 METHODIST STANDARD 

Until I find, Lord, in thee, 

The Lowly and the Meek, 
The fullness which thy own redeemed 

Go nowhere else to seek. 

Anna L. Waring. 



It has been said: "1 can't understand 
how a person can enjoy religion and use 
tobacco." But can't you see how a per- 
son can enjoy his tobacco, and use his re- 
ligion just a little? — Pentecost. 



Holiness is the same in quality, whether 
in God, angels, or saints. 



Do not let the adversary lead you to 
dwell upon some one subject, to the ex- 
clusion of others, such as faith, dress, 
pride, formality, slavery, etc. Make no 
hobby of any one thing in particular, but 
of symmetrical holiness in general. Fol- 
low the Bible ; it has no hobby but holiness. 
— Ex. 



Says one : c ' I do not believe in talking 
so much about holiness." " Perhaps if you 
had it you would believe differently," say I. 



HOLINESS GEMS. 39 

Why do You say so Much about Holi- 
ness? — We have several reasons, among 
them the following : 

1. Because the Bible says so much 
about it. 

2. Because religious people generally 
say so little about it. 

3. Because it is imperatively commanded 
of God, and we are His witnesses to the 
whole truth. 

4. Because it does so much for us now, 
here in this life. 

5. Because of what it promises us in 
the life beyond. 

6. Because it is the only preparation 
for life, work, death, heaven, and the fel- 
lowship of God and the saints in light. 

7. Because we love to talk about it; we 
are full of it; and from the abundance of 
the heart the mouth speaketh. 

8. Because it glorifies God and exalts 
Jesus, who shed His blood that we might 
be made holy. 

9. Because it is our occupation, our 
business; for He hath called us with a 
holy calling. 

10. Because we have a perfect right to; 
our King says: "Let the redeemed of the 
Lord say so." 



40 METHODIST STANDARD 

Now, allow us to ask you one question. 
Why don't you say more about it ? — Pen- 
tecost. 

The doctrine of holiness is not limited 
to a bare and questionable place, a doubt- 
ful and uncertain existence in the holy 
records, but is repletely, abundantly, and 
explicitly embodied as a cardinal feature 
throughout the whole system. It breathes 
in the prophecy, thunders in the law, mur- 
murs in the narrative, whispers in the prom- 
ises, supplicates in the prayers, resounds in 
the songs, sparkles in the poetry, shines in 
the types, glows in the imagery, and burns 
in the spirit of the whole scheme from 
its alpha to its omega — from its beginning 
to its end. Holiness ! Holiness needed ! 
Holiness required! Holiness offered! Ho- 
liness attainable! Holiness a present duty, 
a present privilege, a present enjoyment, 
is the progress and completeness of its 
wondrous theme! It is the -truth glowing 
all over and all through revelation; sing- 
ing and shouting in all its history, and 
biography, and poetry, and prophecy, and 
precept, and promise, and prayer; the 
great central truth of the system; the 



HOLINESS GEMS. 41 

truth to elucidate which the system exists. 
If God has spoken at all,, it is to aid men 
to be holy. The wonder is that all do not 
see it: or rather, that any should rise up 
to question a truth so clear, so conspicu- 
ous, so glorious, and so full of comfort. — 
Bishop Foster. 

1 Lord Jesus, I long to be perfectly whole, 
I want thee forever to live in my soul, 
Break down every idol, cast out every foe ; 
Now wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. 

Cho. — Whiter than snow, yes, whiter than snow ; 
Now wash me, and I shall be whiter than 
snow. 

9 

2 Lord Jesus, look down from thy throne in the 

skies, 
And help me to make the complete sacrifice ; 
I give up myself and whatever I know — 
Now wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. 

3 Lord Jesus, for this I most humbly entreat ; 
I wait, blessed Lord, at thy crucified feet ; 

By faith, for my cleansing, I see thy blood flow — 
Now wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. 

4 Lord Jesus, let nothing unholy remain ; 
Apply thine own blood and extract every stain ; 
To have this blest cleansing I all things forego ; 
Now wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. 

5 Lord Jesus, thou seest that I patiently wait ; 
Come now, and within me a new heart create ; 



42 METHODIST STANDARD 

To those who have sought thee thou never 

saidst no ; 
Now wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. 

Nicholson. 

1 Long my heart has sighed for thee ; 

Long has evil dwelt within ; 
Jesus sweetly speaks to me — 

"I will cleanse thee from all siw." 
Cho. — 1 am trusting, Lord, in thee, 
Blest Lamb of Calvary; 
Humbly at thy cross I bow, 
Jesus saves me, saves me now. 

2 Here I give my all to thee, 

Friends, and time, and earthly store ; 
Soul and body, thine to be — 
Wholly thine for evermore. 

3 In thy promises I trust, 

Now I feel the blood applied; 
I am prostrate in the dust ; 
I with Christ am crucified. 

4 Jesus comes ! He fills my soul ! 

Perfected in him I am ; 
I am every whit made whole ; — 
Glory, glory to the Lamb ! 

Wm. McDonald. 

Difference Between Justification and 
Sanctification. — 1. The conviction is differ- 
ent. In conviction for justification we are 
under a load of guilt for sins committed, 



HOLINESS GEMS. 43 

under condemnation; but in conviction 
for sanctification it is more of a hungering 
after righteousness, a desire for something 
we have not, a longing for more of God 
in the heart. 

2. There is a difference in the effect of 
outward sin on the soul. In justification 
there is an inward sympathy with it, 
which is a constant source of annoyance; 
while in sanctification there is an innate 
constant repelling from within, no sym- 
pathy, no affinity, but a spirit of opposi- 
tion and reproof. 

3. There is a difference in the employ- 
ment of the soul. In justification the soul 
is longing for a better experience, more 
religion, deeper work of grace, etc. In 
sanctification the soul is always in a state 
of thanksgiving, and instead of always 
asking and seldom receiving, it is always 
receiving and always rejoicing and always 
grateful. 

4. Difference in readiness to obey God's 
commands. In justification the soul is 
seldom ready, some hindrance in the way, 
and all manner of excuses. In sanctifica- 
tion, always ready, always willing, and 
always at it ; yoke easy and burden light, 
no galling and chafing. 



44 METHODIST STANDARD 

5. Difference in the warfare. In justi- 
fication the warfare is mostly on the defen- 
sive, with many reverses, many ups and 
downs, many crooked paths and constant 
dread of defeat ; while in sanctification 
the warfare is on the aggressive, with con- 
stant victories and conquests, ready for 
prison or death. 

6. Difference in the growth. In justi- 
fication there are so many reverses that 
one seldom gets out of sight of the start- 
ing-point, and the main growth is a grow- 
ing desire to have a better experience ; in 
which state God cannot reveal much to us ; 
but in sanctification we go on from victory 
to victory, higher, deeper, and grander, 
knowing more and more of God, and of 
His will concerning us. 

7. Justification is but the fitness for 
sanctification, while sanctification is the 
fitness for life, work, death, and heaven. 
— Pentecost. 



1 I am saved, the Lord hath saved me, 
Help me shout the glorious news ! 
I have tasted God's salvation, 
And 'tis sweet as honeyed dews. 



HOLINESS GEMS. 45 

Cho. — Grlory, glory, hallelujah! 

I rejoice salvation came; 
Grlory, glory, hallelujah! 
lam saved in Jesus' name. 

2 Loud I sing my exultation, 

Hoping it will reach the skies, 
Keep, dear Lord, my soul forever 
Under thy protecting eyes. 

3 Free salvation ! glad salvation ! 

Let us shout from pole to pole, 
Until each diseased nation 
Feels that Gk>d hath made it whole. 

4 When at last the days are gathered 

Into thy great judgment one, 
May I find my name deep written 
In the records of thy Son. 

Mrs. S. L. Oberholtzer. 



1 I hear thy welcome voice 

That calls me, Lord, to thee ; 
For cleansing in thy precious blood 
That flowed on Calvary. 

Cho. — I am coming, Lord ! 

Coming now to thee ! 
Wash me, cleanse me in the blood 
That flowed on Calvary. 

2 Though coming weak and vile, 

Thou dost my strength assure ; 
Thou dost my vileness fully cleanse, 
Till spotless all and pure. 



46 METHODIST STANDARD 

3 'Tis Jesus calls me on 

To perfect faith and love ; 
To perfect hope, and peace, and trust 
For earth and heaven above. 

4 'Tis Jesus who confirms 

The blessed work within, 
By adding grace to welcomed grace, 
Where reigned the power of sin. 

5 And he the witness gives 

To loyal hearts and free, 
That every promise is fulfilled, 
If faith but brings the plea. 

L. Hartsough. 



There is such a thing as perfection ; for 
it is mentioned so often in Scripture. — J. 
Wesley. 

It is later than justification ; for justi- 
fied persons are to "go on unto perfec- 
tion." — J. Wesley. Keference, Heb. vi : 1. 



It is not as late as death ; for Paul 
speaks of living men that were perfect. — 
J. W. Keference, Phil, iii : 15. Also see 
Job i : 1 ; and Gen. vi : 9 and xvii : 1. 



The persuasion that a Christian cannot 
live without committing sin, is nearly as 



HOLINESS GEMS. 47 

widespread in the church, as the shining 
of yonder sun. And yet every one must 
know that a sinner is not a Gospel penitent, 
and cannot be forgiven, till he stops com- 
mitting sin, and grounds the arms of his 
rebellion, and sues for pardon. Does re- 
ceiving the grace of pardon, then, license 
him to go on in sin after that, or make 
him less able to refrain from it ? To say 
yes to either part of this question would be 
enormous, monstrous, portentous, amaz- 
ing, blindness, and astonishing, extraordi- 
nary, and egregious folly. — Original. 



Faith, mighty faith the promise sees, 

And looks to that alone ) 

Laughs at impossibilities 

And says it shall be done. 

C. Wesley. 

Acquire the habit of living by the min- 
ute. Take care of this moment now while 
you have it, the next when it comes, and 
you will not then neglect any. You can 
live this minute without sin ! Is it not 
so ? Do it then. Never mind what is be- 
fore you. Do not sin now. When each 
successive minute comes, do likewise. If 
you will do this — if you will observe this 



48 METHODIST STANDARD 

simple rule, you will not fail, you will not 
sin at all. Days are made up of minutes ; 
if each one is sinless the day will be so. 
Now try this. Nothing is easier, nothing 
is wiser. Live by the minute. Carry on 
your business, trade, labor, study, and 
plan for the future, by the minute. Trust 
in God now ; do God/s will now ; do not 
ofiend God now. — Bishop Foster. 



The way for a true convert to reach en- 
tire cleansing, purity, holiness, or sancti- 
fication, is a plain way. Do you clearly 
see, and deeply feel, your inbred sin and 
your consequent need of entire holiness ? 
Then the want is not here. Are you will- 
ing and anxious and resolved to obtain it? 
Then the want is not here. Do you give 
up all, — consecrate all, — devote all, — self, 
family, property, reputation, time, tal- 
ents, everything to God ; to be His, to be 
ordered and controlled by Him, used for 
Him, used at His bidding, enjoyed in Him, 
and never to be withheld, or taken back 
from Him again ? Then the want is not 
here. Do you believe He is able to sanctify 
you ? Then the want is not here. Do you 
believe He is willing ? Then the want is not 



HOLINESS GE^IS. 49 

here. Do you believe He has promised it ? 
Then the want is not here. Do you believe 
He is able and willing and has promised 
to do it now, if you trust Him for it now ? 
Then the want is not here. Can you trust 
Him to do it for you in the present tense ? 
Then if you can, and do, so trust Him, 
quicker than we can finish this sentence, 
the work will be done. — Bishop Foster. 



1 ye lovers of the kingdom 

Of your suffering, risen Lord, 
Be zealous for his glory 
Just according to his word. 

2 He hath called you his co-workers, 

And his business calls for haste, 
For there's many a sheaf ungathered, 
And many a field lies waste. 

3 'Tis not the outer serving 

He delights so much to see ; 
He would have you truly loyal, 
Whate'er the errand be. 

4 He would have you bold and steadfast, 

Armed with his wondrous might ; 

So the giant host of aliens 

Shall all be put to flight. 

Abbie MiUs. 



A world of sinners lost may have the 
glorious seal of forgiveness stamped upon 



50 METHODIST STANDARD 

their hearts, and each one who has tasted 
that the Lord is good may have a clean 
heart, and walk all the way to heaven in 
the highway of holiness. — Aiiie Mills. 



The first thing a Christian who is trou- 
bled with inclination to evil should do, is 
to inquire whether there be not provision 
made to deliver him from these wrong 
tendencies. — Sheridan Baker. 



It is the doctrine of the Bible and of 
the Church, as formulated in her Stand- 
ards, that sanctification is after regen- 
eration in the Divine arrangement. — 
W. Jones. 

God's order of salvation is pardon, 
regeneration, and sanctification. These 
terms do not all mean the same thing. 
They are not interchangeable. Each one 
describes a distinct act of God. By the 
first, man's legal relation is changed; 
by the second, new life is imparted ; and 
by the third the entire essence of the soul 
receives the impress of the Divine nature; 
and all three are essential to complete sal- 
vation. — W. Jones, St. L. C. 



HOLINESS GEMS. 51 

Pardon of all past offenses is the grace 
of justification. — Original. 



Impartation of the life of God to a par- 
doned soul, which was before dead in tres- 
passes and sins, and the washing away of 
the guilty stains, is regeneration. — Orig- 
inal. 



There is a fountain filled with blood 
Drawn from Immanuel's veins ; 

And sinners plunged beneath that flood 
Lose all their guilty stains. 

W. Cowper. 



Sanctification is not the adding of some- 
thing to the soul; but it is an eradication, 
or elimination, from the soul of that in- 
being principle of sin, or depravity, inher- 
ited from fallen Adam. It is so far from 
being an addition that it is a subtraction. 
But it is preparatory to two mighty addi- 
tions : namely, a filling stream of Divine 
love in the heart at once, and a more 
blessed growth in grace afterwards, as long 
as the soul is faithful to the grace given. — 
Original. 



52 MEH0DIST STANDARD 

1 Hover o'er me, Holy Spirit, 

Bathe my trembling heart and brow ; 
Fill me with thy hallowed presence, 

Come, come, and fill me now. 
Cho. — Fill me now, fill me now ; 

Jesus come, and fill me now ; 
Fill me with thy hallowed presence, 
Come, come, and fill me now. 

2 Cleanse and comfort, bless and save me, 

Bathe, bathe, my heart and brow ; 
Thou art comforting and saving, 

Thou art sweetly filling now. 
Cho. — Filling now, filling now, 

Jesus comes and fills me now ; 
Fills me with his hallowed presence, 
Jesus comes and fills me now. 

E. H. Stokes. 



It is G-od's unalterable decree to exclude 
those who live and die under the defile- 
ment of sin from the sight of Himself in 
the celestial world, for which their unholy 
tempers and vile affections render them 
altogether unfit. Only the pure in heart 
shall or can see God. We must be like 
Him if we would see Him as He is. — 
Joseph Benson. Comment on Heb. xii : 1J+. 



Comment on 1 Thess. v : 28. — That is, 
may He complete the work of purification 



HOLINESS GEMS. 53 

begun in your regeneration, cleansing you 
from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, 
stamping you with His whole image, ren- 
dering you glorious, without spot or wrin- 
kle or any such thing, that ye may be holy 
and without blemish. — Joseph Benson. 



From every yiew of the subject, it ap- 
pears that the blessing of a clean heart, and 
the happiness consequent on it, may be ob- 
tained in this life, because here, not in the 
future world, are we to be saved. When- 
ever, therefore, such blessings are offered, 
they may be received; but all the graces 
and blessings of the Gospel are offered at all 
times, and when they are offered they may 
be received. Every sinner is exhorted to 
turn from the evil of his way, to repent of 
sin, and supplicate the throne of grace for 
pardon. In the same moment in which 
he is commanded to turn, in that moment 
he may and should return. He does not 
receive the exhortation to repentance to- 
day that he may become a penitent at 
some future time. Every penitent is ex- 
horted to believe on the Lord Jesus, that 
he may receive remission of sins: — he does 
not, he cannot understand that the bless- 



54 METHODIST STA^DAKD 

ing thus promised is not to be received to- 
day, but at some future time. In like 
manner, to every believer the clean heart 
and the right spirit are offered in the pres- 
ent moment, that they may in that mo- 
ment be received. For as the work of 
cleansing and renewing the heart is the 
work of God, His almighty power can 
perform it in a moment, in the twink- 
ling of an eye. And as it is this mo- 
ment our duty to love God with all our 
heart, and we cannot do this till He cleanse 
our hearts, consequently He is ready to do 
it this moment, because He wills that we 
should in this moment love Him. There- 
fore we may justly say, "Now is the ac- 
cepted time, now is the day of salvation." 
He who in the beginning caused light in a 
moment to shine out of darkness, can in a 
moment shine into our hearts, and give us 
to see the light of His glory in the face of 
Jesus Christ. This moment, therefore, we 
may be emptied of sin, filled with holiness, 
and become truly happy.— Adam Clarke. 



1. To be sanctified is to be renewed in 
all the image of God, "in righteousness 
and true holiness." 2. Being a perfect 



HOLOTBSS GEMS. 55 

Christian implies loving God with, all the 
heart, soul, mind, and strength, and our 
neighbor as onrself. 3. Undoubtedly, this 
implies that all inward sin is taken away. 
4. Sanctification begins in the moment a 
man is justified. 5. Complete sanctification 
is not ordinarily reached till a little before 
death by those who expect it no sooner. 
6. But believers may expect it sooner, for 
they can reach it to-day. — /, Wesley. 



That a distinction exists between regen- 
eration and entire or perfect holiness, will 
be generally allowed. Regeneration is re- 
ceived with justification, but the Apostles, 
in addressing the body of believers in the 
churches, set before them, in both their 
prayers and exhortations, a still higlier de- 
gree of deliverance from sin. Two pas- 
sages only need be cited to prove this: 
1 Thess. v : 23, and 2 Cor. vii : 1. In both 
of these, deliverance from sin is the subject 
spoken of, and they go to the extent of 
the entire sanctification of the whole be- 
ino:. — BieJiard Watson. 



The attainableness of such a state is not 
so much a matter of debate anions Chris- 



56 METHODIST STANDARD 

tians, as the time when we are authorized 
to expect it. For as it is an axiom of 
Christian doctrine that, "without holiness 
no man shall see the Lord/' and it is 
equally clear that if we would be "found 
of Him in peace" we must be found 
"without spot and blameless/' and if the 
Church is to be presented by Christ to the 
Father "without fault/' then, unless we 
admit the doctrine of purgatory, or some 
intermediate purifying institution, we must 
conclude that the entire sanctification of 
the soul, and its complete renewal in holi- 
ness, must take place in this world. — 
Richard Watson. 



Our blessed Lord appears to have these 
words pointedly in view, "Ye shall be 
perfect, as your Father who is in heaven 
is perfect/' Matt, v : 48. But what does 
this imply? Why, to be saved from all the 
power, the guilt, and the contamination 
of sin. This is only the negative part of 
salvation, but it has also a positive part; 
to be made perfect — to be perfect as our 
Father who is in heaven is perfect — to be 
filled with the fullness of God, to have 
Christ dwelling continually in the heart by 



HOLINESS GEMS. 57 

faith, and to be rooted and grounded in 
love. This is the state in which man was 
created; for he was made in the image and 
likeness of God. This is the state from 
which man fell; for he broke the com- 
mand of God. And this is the state into 
which every human soul must be raised 
who would dwell with God in glory ; for 
Christ was incarnated and died to put 
away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. 
What a glorious privilege! And who can 
doubt the possibility of its attainment who 
believes in the omnipotent love of God, 
the infinite merit of the blood of atone- 
ment, and the all-pervading and all-puri- 
fying energy of the Holy Ghost ? How 
many miserable souls employ that time to 
dispute and cavil against the possibility of 
being saved from their sins, which they 
should devote to praying and believing 
that they might be saved out of the hands 
of their enemies ! — Adam Clarice. 



The perfection of the Gospel system is 
not that it makes allowances for sin, but 
that it makes an atonement for it; not 
that it tolerates sin, but that it destroys 
it. — Adam Clarice. 



58 METHODIST STANDARD 

However inveterate the disease of sin 
may be, the grace of the Lord Jesus can 
fully cure it. — Adam Clarice. 



Original corruption and actual sin. 

1 Lord, we are vile, conceived in sin, 
And born unholy and unclean ; 
Sprung from the man whose guilty fall 
Corrupts his race and taints us all. 

2 Soon as we draw our infant breath 
The seeds of sin grow up for death ; 
Thy law demands a perfect heart, 
But we're denied in every part. 

Isaac Watts. 



How sad our state by nature is, 
Our sin, how deep it stains ! 

Isaac Watts. 



But there's a voice of sovereign grace 
Sounds from the sacred word : 

Ho ! ye despairing sinners, come, 
And trust a faithful Lord. 

Isaac Watts. 



"Having eyes, they see not." 

An aged man of fourscore years 
"Was met by me, not long ago : 

Both poor and weak, and full of fears, 
He sees no one on earth below. 



HOLINESS GE^fS. 59 

2 With staff in hand and body bent, 

He moved from place to place about, 
But scarcely knowing where he went, 
For natural eye-sight had gone out. 

3 Other men I've met in time, 

Much worn with years, and cares, and toil, 
Who might have made their lives sublime, 
And going hence, have borne much spoil. 

4 Assured they were they must depart, 

But knew not where their home would be; 
They knew not who possessed their heart, 
Or if the joys of heaven they'd see. 

5 They said no one could know the place 

Their spirit's future home would be ; 
They hoped they'd see the Father's face, 
But G-od might say, "Depart from me." 

6 Two natural eyes they did possess, 

But still were blind, and blindly led, 
As members of the Church, yes ! 
They, living, were as good as dead. 

7 Blind to the fact that they could know, 

While passing through this earthly life, 
Their souls would sure to glory go 
When time would end, and earthly strife. 

8 They knew not that it was their high 

And blessed privilege to know 
The state their soul was in, and cry : 
"At death, to deathless joys I'll go." 



60 METHODIST STANDARD 

God's own. 
9 But God hath said within his word, 
Mine they shall be who love and fear, 
Whose hearts are faithful to their Lord, 
May even now "be of good cheer." 

10 When I to earth shall come for them, 

To make my blessed jewels up, 
Each shall be spared a priceless gem, 
And drink salvation's flowing cup. 

11 As man his son, who serves him well, 

Tenderly cares for him in time, 
So God assures that we shall dwell 
With him in endless joy sublime. 

12 We know, says John, that we have passed 

From death to life on earth below, 
Because we love the brethren dear, 
And God this blessed truth doth show. 

13 We know, says Paul, if we should die, 

We have a house not made with hands; 
Of God, the building stands on high, 
Eternally in heaven it stands. 

14 Our glorious home, from mountain top, 

We now with joy exult to see, 
Our hope is full, most glorious hope, 
Of happy immortality. 

15 This witness get, poor soul, to know 

That all your sins are now forgiven, 
This holy joy he'll then bestow, 
And yours shall be the joys of heaven. 

Original. 



HOLINESS GEMS. 61 

Will He Find Faith ?— " When the Son 
of Man shall come, will He find faith on 
the earth?" 

This is a Bible question: it claims the 
attention of all. We know not the time 
of His coming. If He should come soon, 
without a great change, from present ap- 
pearances, the article of true Christian 
faith would assuredly be scarce. But if 
the Saviour would be satisfied to find 
other things in great abundance as substi- 
tutes for faith, then He would find them 
without fail. Plenty of professors, back- 
sliders, hypocrites, and infidels. Plenty 
of beer, whisky, rum, and gin ; plenty of 
buyers, sellers, and drinkers. Plenty of 
saloons, circuses, dances, and beer gar- 
dens ; plenty of Sabbath picnics, euchre 
parties, and fandangoes ; plenty of festi- 
vals, fairs, and church sprees; plenty of 
gambling, drinking, frolicking, and Sab- 
bath desecration; plenty of pride, arro- 
gance, and aristocracy ; plenty of brains, 
idiots, and weak-minded and Gallio-like 
persons, who don't really care for what is 
good, but are easily led into anything that 
is stirring, vain, wicked, and foolish ; who 
can look on shameful pictures above the 



62 METHODIST STANDARD 

sidewalks and inside the show tents with- 
out a single blush of their modesty. Fa- 
thers, mothers, and children, from the 
city full and the country more sparse, 
they flow together, they enter the mighty 
throng, and march along together, keep- 
ing step with the music of the wrong. 
They sing ! Ah, yes ! how they sing, 
" Keep to the right, boys." But they, with 
their teachers, and preachers, and pastors, 
and priests, and church members, regard- 
less of God and pure religion, keep travel- 
ing to the wrong. There is plenty of all 
this. 

0, blessed, immaculate Lamb of God ! 
how will all this do to meet Thy Divine 
gaze, when, with eyes of flame, Thou 
comest again to look for the faith of 
saints, and to judge the quick and dead, 
both small and great, and when Thou, 
loving Jesus, wilt but scarcely find either 
faith or saints ! 

"It is time for Thee, Lord, to work." 
It will take more earthquakes, and harder 
earthquakes, and red-hot thunder-bolts and 
storms and tempests and cyclones and hail- 
stones and devastating winds, to tear the 



HOLINESS GEMS. 63 

bands off their eyes, so that they may see 
and be saved. — Original. 



" God, hasten and send a mighty storm 
of the Holy Ghost, before Thou sendest the 
destructive storm of Thy wrath." — G. D. 
Watson. 

True Holiness. — Holiness is just now 
attracting more attention in the Church 
and the world, than at any previous time 
since the days of primitive Christianity; or 
at least, we may safely say, since the days 
of the mighty "Wesleys. There are many 
errors in the Church respecting real Bible 
holiness ; but the greatest one we have 
ever been able to discover is, the neglect 
of Christians in general to press after it 
with all their power, or to inquire dili- 
gently for the truth concerning it, "as it 
is in Jesus." 

that there was more real heartfelt 
"groaning after it ; 9> more real hungering 
and thirsting after it ; more pressing to- 
ward this mark of our high calling in 
Christ : and then there would be so many 
more "filled," yes, really "filled" with it 
— so much more matter of fact reaching 



64 METHODIST STANDARD 

it. And then, again, there would be heard 
in the class meetings, as in former days, 
the clear, sweet, outspoken, happy, joyful, 
deep experiences of souls anointed with 
fresh oil for every occasion. 

There are many objections made to en- 
tire holiness, but in the very nature of the 
case there can be no true argument against 
it. It stands as sure and secure as the 
eternal rock of truth itself. For God to 
require less than this of us, would not be 
at all like Himself. For Him to not be 
able to impart it to us, on His own framed 
conditions, would be still less like Him. 
Jer. xxxii : 17, 27. To be unwilling to 
bestow it at the earliest possible moment, 
would be less like God than ever ; for we 
bring more glory to His name and more 
souls to His blessed fold then, than under 
any other circumstances in this life. 

The Israelites needed but a short time 
(properly used) to go from Egypt to Ca- 
naan, compared with their forty years' wan- 
dering in the wilderness. Just so now, hun- 
dreds of thousands of Christians ought to go 
up within a month from true conversion to 
possess the land of perfect love, for they are 
well able, if they only have clear instruc- 



HOLINESS GEMS. 65 

tions, and willing, faithful hearts. — Origi- 
nal. 

Many talk much, and indeed well, of 
what Christ has done for us ; but how little 
is spoken of what He is to do in us ! and 
yet all that He has done for us, is in refer- 
ence to what He is to do in us. He was 
incarnated, suffered, died, and rose again 
from the dead ; ascended to heaven, and 
there appears in the presence of God for 
us. These were all saying, atoning, and 
mediating acts for us ; that He might rec- 
oncile us to God ; that He might blot out 
our sin ; that He might purge our con- 
sciences from dead works ; that He might 
bind the strong man armed — take away 
the armor in which he trusted, wash the 
polluted heart, destroy every foul and 
abominable desire, all tormenting and un- 
holy tempers ; that He might make the 
heart His throne, fill the soul with His 
light, power and life ; and, in a word, 
"destroy the works of the devil." These 
are done in us ; without tvhich we cannot 
he saved unto eternal life. But acts done 
in us are consequent on the acts done for 
us ] for had He not been incarnated, suf- 



66 METHODIST STANDARD 

fered, and died in our stead, we could not 
receive either pardon or holiness ; and did 
He not cleanse and purify our hearts, we 
could not enter into the place where all is 
purity : for the beatific vision is given to 
them only who are purified from all un- 
righteousness ; for it is written, "Blessed 
are the pure in heart, for they shall see 
God." Nothing is purified by death; — 
nothing in the grave ; nothing in heaven. 
The living stones of the temple, like those 
of that at Jerusalem, are hewn, squared, 
and cut here, in the Church Militant, to 
prepare them to enter into the composition 
of the Church Triumphant. — Adam Clarice. 



Old Paths. — There is one thing that I 
now desire to do, above every other ; it is to 
impress upon the minds and hearts of our 
Methodist people, even to the point of irre- 
sistible conviction, the doctrine of holiness, 
real holiness, or entire sanctification, to be 
received by simple trusting faith after con- 
version. This is not only the undeniable 
teaching of the Bible ; but it is peculiarly 
their own adopted indispensable doctrine, 
as a people, and as a part of the true 
Church of the living God upon the earth. 



HOLINESS GEXS. 67 

This point successfully readied, much of 
the outcry of opposition now heard, of the 
onward march of the most blessed cause,, 
will cease, and die, " as dies a wave along 
the shore." All that will then remain 
will be the inward murmurs of the old man 
of sin, contesting the last inches of ground 
yet held in the believer's heart. Then in- 
deed will they be in a fair way of reaching 
the point where the Christian yoke is easy, 
and the burden light ; and where to live a 
Christian, will be the supremest earthly 
joy. Then indeed will this mighty host of 
God find the "Old paths wherein is the 
good way, and walking therein, find rest 
to their souls." — Original. 



When we as preachers, and people, 
really believe God's promise to hear and 
answer true prayers, then will we be a 
joyful people, and then as never before 
will sinners be converted, and believers be 
entirely sanctified. — Bishop Bowman. 



TTe contend for entire holiness as an 
experience because God commands it, 
promises it, inspires prayers for its at- 
tainment, urgently exhorts us to it ; posi- 



68 METHODIST STAKDAKD 

tively declares it, has made ample pro- 
visions for it, and for the immediate, en- 
tire sanctification of true believers. Why 
will we longer hesitate ? Why not now 
resolve ? Oh ! lovers of God, let us arise 
at once, and may God, whose name is 
Holy, sanctify us throughout soul, body, 
and spirit ! — Bishop Foster. 



I desire to assure you that in the doc- 
trine of the M. E. Church on this subject 
there is nothing hidden or doubtful. The 
Church has no question about this doctrine. 
Individuals may have questions, but the 
Church has none whatever. The idea that 
there is no definite blessing to be sought 
called entire sanctification, or perfect love, 
distinct from a love that is not perfect, is 
not true ; and the man who sets up the idea 
that we are not to expect to be made per- 
fect in love in this life, ought not to be a 
Methodist preacher ; for this is our creed, 
our solemn, historical testimony. It is so 
identified with all our history as a Church, 
that it is quite impossible to expunge it. 
It has gone so deeply into our literature, 
our glorious hymns, and our glowing ex- 
perience, that it cannot be extirpated. 



HOLINESS GEMS. 69 

This is the faith of our Church, brethren. 
This doctrine of holiness is the central idea 
in our religion, and you might as well tear 
out the heart, and expect to preserve the 
system of circulation, as to take holiness 
out of our system and expect it to continue 
a vital power in the world. As well burn 
up your towns and leave your guide-boards 
standing that point to them, as do that. — 
Bishop Peck. 

The word "sanctify" has two meanings. 
1. It signifies to consecrate, to separate 
from earth and common use, and to devote 
or dedicate to God and His service. 2. It 
signifies to make holy or pure. — Clarice. 



The children of God scattered abroad 
generally agree in this : that though we 
may by the spirit mortify the deeds of the 
body ; resist and conquer outward and in- 
ward sin ; though we may weaken our own 
enemies day by day, yet we cannot drive 
them out. By all the grace given in jus- 
tification we cannot extirpate them. Not 
till God speaks to our hearts again — speaks 
the second time, " Be clean," and then only, 
the leprosy is cleansed, the evil root, the 



70 METHODIST STANDARD 

carnal mind, is destroyed, and inbred sin 
subsists no more. — J. Wesley. 



If any one can show stronger or plainer 
language than the above, in the teachings 
of living holiness men to-day, I do most 
heartily invite that person to the work. If 
you still doubt that it is real, old, matter- 
of-fact Methodism as well as Bibleism, cut 
this piece out, paste it in your hat, study 
it, test it, prove it, take it to the Lord in 
prayer, seek the experience with your whole 
heart, by real Gospel submission, prayer, 
and faith, enter in, and it is your inherit- 
ance. Seek it and enjoy it, and praise 
the Lord with your inmost being. — Origi- 
nal. 

As sin is the cause of the ruin of mankind, 
the Gospel system, which exhibits its cure, 
is fitly called "good news, or glad tidings ; " 
and it is good news, because it proclaims 
Him who saves His people from their 
sins ; and it would indeed be dishonorable 
to that grace, and the infinite merit of Him 
who procured it, to suppose, much more 
to assert, that sin had made wounds 
which grace would not heal. Of such a 



HOLINESS GEMS. 71 

triumph Satan shall ever be deprived. — 
Adam Clarke. 

Sometimes wagons and trains are loaded 
down so heavily that they are compelled to 
unload. The Church needs to do a good 
deal of unloading. The Lord of Hosts is 
crying out,, " Loose thyself from the bands 
of thy neck, captive daughter of Zion." 
She has gone into captivity to the world. 
The deviFs locomotives run her machinery: 
her fuel and steam supplied through these 
ungodly church festivals. 

Oh ! what shameful trickery and non- 
sense the churches resort to, to raise funds, 
to remove the indebtedness of some church, 
or to secure an organ. For instance, 
money-safes in the shape of jugs are car- 
ried to the church, a nickel dropped in. 
Then they must pay from twenty-five to 
fifty cents for the privilege of breaking 
the jug and securing the nickel. 

Each lady is weighed, and sold for two 
cents a pound. A person drawing a ticket 
with a lady's name who weighs one hun- 
dred and twenty pounds must pay $2.40 
for a supper. 

A fishing pond is constructed behind a 



72 METHODIST STANDARD 

screen, and men will pay ten cents " just 
for the fun of it" to fish up some old cast- 
off slouch hat, or an old pair of socks, and 
other things too ridiculous to mention. 

In some corner the pastor or class-leader 
stands auctioneering off some India-rubber 
dolls ; while a group of ungodly men laugh 
over the obscene language on the plea of 
the pastor and church, "we must get up 
something to amuse our young folks ; 9 > 
another group are buying in a pound 
wrapper for twenty-five cents what proves 
to be nothing more, perhaps, than a 
pound of salt, sand, sawdust, or a bunch 
of old rags. 

Others are cramming their stomachs, 
trying to get the worth of their money; 
boys throwing bones, cakes, candies, and 
pop-corn at each others' heads, making 
such a litter on the floor and defiling the 
house of God in such a manner as to 
cause the vilest sinner to denounce such 
abominations. 

The answer of a Mohammedan priest 
illustrates their policy. "A hog (which is 
a very vile thing in the eyes of a Moham- 
medan) once entered a mosque. The peo- 
ple were horrified. What was to be done? 



HOLINESS GEMS. 73 

The ingenuity of the priest was equal to 
the emergency. He told the people that 
the temple was so holy that the moment 
the hog entered the door it became holy 
while in there, but became as vile as eyer 
when it passed out." 

These things are gotten up to support 
the church. There's no harm in them; 
some of our bishops give it their sanction; 
the thing's holy because it's carried on for 
holy purposes. They rob Peter to pay 
Paul. Do evil that good may come. Call 
light darkness and darkness light, while 
the eternal woe of God hangs oyer their 
guilty souls. 

The God of our Bible can carry on His 
Church without selling lemonade, pea- 
nuts, dime lunches or cakes, or getting up 
an oyster, mush and milk, or pop-corn 
supper. He can do "exceeding abun- 
dantly aboye all we ask or think " on this 
line. Hallelujah! Away with such sacri- 
legious shams; such contemptible indirec- 
tion; such silly, selfish deyices in the name 
of Christ!—^. R S. 



The object of all God's promises and 
dispensations was to bring fallen man back 



74 METHODIST STANDARD 

to the image of God, which he had lost. 
This, indeed, is the sum and substance of 
the religion of Christ. We have partaken 
of an earthly, sensual, and devilish nature; 
the design of God, by Christ, is to remove 
this, and to make us partakers of the 
Divine nature, and save us from all the 
corruption, in principle and fact, which is 
in the world. — Adam Clarice. 



The Believer's Consecration. — I am un- 
able to see why this should be spoken of, 
by any intelligent teacher, in a way to dis- 
tinguish it from the consecration of others 
than believers. I regard it to be an indis- 
putable fact that no human being can 
make a Scriptural consecration but a be- 
liever. The word itself, in its simplest, 
closest meaning, and its truest Scriptural 
bearing, includes these two things : The 
offering up to God of a sacrifice that is 
holy in a degree ; and also that the same 
offering up, be the act of an agent that is 
by grace and spiritual life made holy in a 
degree. This is certainly true regarding 
responsible beings for holiness. An un- 
regenerate person would be regarded as 
guilty of solemn mockery, to attempt to 



HOLINESS GEMS. 75 

dedicate or consecrate a church, building 
to the service of Almighty God; and yet 
by some it is considered possible and 
necessary that a sinner consecrate his 
being, "dead in sin/ 5 to God and His 
service, as a more important temple than 
any made with hands, in order to conver- 
sion, and to the receiving of life from the 
dead. This is manifestly erroneous, and 
tends only to confusion. The sinner gives 
up his rebellion and surrenders to God's 
terms as a prisoner of war, uncondition- 
ally, promising virtually, in his will power, 
to give all his being and possessions to 
God's service, when, by grace of spiritual 
life made fit for that service — a promise 
of consecration when, made holy in the 
first degree. Here God receives, pardons, 
adopts, and makes him His child. And 
now, if he is true to his promise, a faith- 
ful and loyal subject, he pays that vow. 
" He yields himself to God as one alive 
from the dead." Being spiritual, he con- 
secrates a spiritual offering, a living sac- 
rifice, by a reasonable performance. He 
gladly, by that degree of the Divine nature 
now in him by regeneration, offers up or 
hands over to God his renewed, living, 



76 METHODIST STANDARD 

ransomed powers, entire, with all their 
future capabilities, and believes specifically 
for, and receives entire cleansing, or God's 
holiness for him, in its perfect degree. 
This alone is Bible consecration, and the 
resulting blessing is the only entire cleans- 
ing. — Original. 

We must be saved from our sins — from 
the corruption that is in the world — and 
be holy within and righteous without, or 
never see God. For this very purpose 
Jesus Christ lived, died, and revived that 
He might purify us unto Himself, that 
through faith in His blood our sins might 
be blotted out, and our souls restored to 
the image of God. Reader, art thou hun- 
gering and thirsting after righteousness ? 
Then blessed art thou, for thou shalt be 
filled. — Adam Clarice. 



If God should let a red-hot, sanctified, 
John Brown sort of a man burst upon 
society — a man that would strike as much 
terror to the dead pulpits of the Church as 
to the dens of iniquity — it would be the 
thing we need. You ask, " Was not Moody 
such a man?" I answer, "No." Moody's 



HOLINESS GEMS. 77 

work was entirely too shallow; it did not 
possess the earthquake attribute. We have 
had for ten years a Y. M. C. A. surface re- 
vival work that has consisted mostly in 
loose theological truth, bouncing up for 
prayers, and retiring to a private room, 
and simply professing Christ died for you. 
God did the best He could with the kind 
of doctrine used. Many of these revival- 
ists held the ruinous error that depravity 
is never extirpated from the soul, but only 
covered up by the imputed robe of Christ's 
personal holiness. That doctrine has no 
earthquake power in it ; it is a poetical 
device of the devil; for he loves to be cov- 
ered over with the borrowed costume of 
Christ, provided he can retain a niche in 
the heart. Oh, no; in the revival I mean 
the carnal mind is never repressed under 
borrowed garments, but torn out root and 
branch; a revival in which no one ever rises 
for prayers, but where they fall and pray 
for themselves, and weep and mourn and 
make the doctor think they are insane; 
a revival that will make preachers forget 
their manuscripts, and burst out and weep 
in the pulpit; a cyclone of mysterious om- 
nipresence that, when it strikes a church 



78 METHODIST STASTDAKD 

or community, will make people awfully 
mad or awfully happy. 

I declare, in the presence of God and 
His hosts, I am ready for just such a moral 
scene. Nothing is so alarming as the utter 
absence of alarm in the churches. Noth- 
ing is so dreadfully terrific to my mind as 
that sinners have no terror ! that God 
would so baptize with fire a thousand peo- 
ple, as to render them incomprehensible 
amazements of power. Oh, for a few men 
so dead to all things but God, and so filled 
with Him as to make them more than a 
match for the rest of mankind! Thou 
Triune God of Sinai, Calvary, and Pente- 
cost ! art Thou not now nursing under the 
horizon the lightning and thunder and rain 
of an amazing holiness revival? Lord, let 
it come! Let it strike our nation, though 
it may blow the steeples of our abominable 
Church pride in the dust; though it may 
thrust our philanthropic fairs and festivals 
in the gutter, blow the French music out 
of our choirs and the feathers out of our 
bonnets; though it should confound all 
the wise ones, and be understood by no 
one but Thy Divine self, let it come! 
Thou art the master of Thine own tern- 



HOLINESS GEMS. 79 

pests. Oh, send us a storm of the Holy 
Ghost before Thou senclest the storm of 
the judgment. — G. D. Watson. 



Many employ that time in brooding and 
mourning over their impure hearts, which 
should be spent in prayer and faith before 
God, that their impurities might be washed 
away. In what a state of nonage are many 
members of the Christian Church! — Adam 
Clarice. 

1 " Oh, for that flame of living lire 

AVhich shone so bright in saints of old ! 
Which bade their souls to heaven aspire, 
Calm in distress, in danger bold. 

2 " Is not thy grace as mighty now 

As when Elijah felt its power, 
When glory beamed from Moses' brow, 
Or Job endured the trying hour? 

3 " Remember, Lord, the ancient days; 

Renew thy work, thy grace restore ; 
And while to thee our hearts we raise, 
On us thy Holy Spirit pour." 

A righteous prayer, a deep, searching, 
and wise question, and a heavenly anoint- 
ing sought. "When this prayer is an- 
swered, when this question is solved, and 



80 METHODIST STAKDAKD 

when this blessing is obtained, the results 
flowing from them all combined are hearts 
of fire, tongues of fire, words of fire, heav- 
enly fire, purging fire, purifying fire, lov- 
ing fire, sin consumed, hearts made clean, 
faith made strong, grace increased, souls 
saved, God pleased, the devil painfully 
enraged, and the Church is happified and 
brought to the very mountain-top of God's 
promises. Are these not blessed, grand, 
glorious results ? Might not God's people 
have things so, and have them so right 
away? They have been so, and God pro- 
claims from heaven, "I change not/' Mai. 
iii : 6. "No variableness, neither shadow 
of turning," James i : 17. "Jesus Christ, 
the same yesterday, to-day, and forever," 
Heb. xiii : 8. "I will yet for this be in- 
quired of by the house of Israel, to do it 
for them ; I will increase them like a 
flock," Ezek. xxxvi : 37. What more word 
from God, or what from anywhere else, do 
we need to convince us? Do we really 
desire such a state of things? We have, 
one and all, to unload our superfluities, 
take our hearts off from trifles, and set our 
very souls to seeking and inquiring of God 
for this, and prove our honesty of purpose 



HOLINESS GEMS. 81 

by just keeping at it, and never letting up, 
until it . is let down, and we haye God's 
bond for a deed that it will come. Let us 
all be full of expectation, looking for the 
fulfillment of the promises, praying for 
and believing for the overwhelming bless- 
ing. Let us all, all Christians, be mighty 
in this duty, and in this work, and the 
very bending heavens will give way. 
" Armed with all Thy might we'll cry to 
Thee, and in this we'll have the glorious 
victory. " — Original. 



Many tell us that " no man can be 
saved from all sin in this life." Will these 
persons permit us to ask, " How much sin 
may we be saved from in this life ? " — 
Adam Clarice. 

Our General Rules. — Looking to God 
for the rectitude of my intentions, I will 
say, at whatever cost otherwise, that the 
editors of Advocates, or organic spokes- 
men of our beloved Zion, may write on 
the enforcement of the General Eules un- 
til doomsday, so long as they mix up 
with their writings censure on persons for 
censuring violations of the rules (as some 



82 METHODIST STANDARD 

of our editors have lately done), and the 
devil won't care, and the rules won't be 
strengthened a whit, and not one diffi- 
culty moved out of the way. On the other 
hand, the " Christian at Work" has a new 
invention for breaking those same rules, 
innocently of course (all these violations 
purport to be innocent). It is a " novel 
entertainment," a " Bean -bag Party." 
Header, please don't forget the name. It 
is so pretty. The place where the " enter- 
tainment" comes in, and the " great fun" 
is manufactured, is throwing bags of beans 
through a hole in a board, wagering, and 
then winning or losing a prize by the 
throw. And then the editor of our " Cen- 
tral" has to copy the precious "enter- 
tainment" for another host of readers, 
who must not fall behind in any new way 
of "following the Lord" and "keeping 
the General Eules." In the sight of God 
I verily believe and shall openly declare, 
when we throw these prize bean-bags, we 
had just as well throw dice or play cards, 
and just as well throw for money as for 
prize bags of beans or anything else. May 
the good Lord speedily deliver His Church 
from such thoroughly disgusting religion 



HOLINESS GEMS. 83 

as this, and bring it back to the religion 
of the beloved Bible and Methodism. The 
Lord has made ample provision for the 
healthful entertainment and happiness of 
His children. He advertises to sweetly 
and Divinely comfort them with the Holy 
Ghost as an abiding guest. None of them 
need such games of amusement as speedily 
qualify for raffling off quilts and the like 
in church festivals. These things are a 
disgrace to Christianity, a curse to relig- 
ious papers, and ought to be given up by 
religious people everywhere, as belonging 
only to the world, the flesh, and the devil, 
No bitterness is meant; only great plain- 
ness of speech, in the love of our common 
cause. But, " what I have written I have 
written. " — Original. 



Many preachers, and multitudes of pro- 
fessing people, are studious to find out 
how many imperfections and infidelities, 
and how much inward sinfulness, are con- 
sistent with a safe state in religion; but 
how very few are bringing out the fair 
Gospel standard to try the height of the 
members of the Church, whether they be 
fit for the heavenly army, whether their 



84 METHODIST STA^DAKD 

stature be such as qualifies them for the 
rank of the Church Militant! " The meas- 
ure of the stature of the fullness v is sel- 
dom seen; the measure of the stature of 
littleness, dwarfishness, and emptiness is 
often exhibited. — Clarice, 



No wonder, then, that in such places 
and under such a ministry, there is no 
man that can be "presented perfect in 
Christ Jesus." But wherever the trumpet 
gives a certain sound, and the people go 
forth to battle, headed by the Captain of 
their salvation, there the foe is routed, and 
genuine believers brought into the full 
liberty of the children of God. — Clarice. 



Religious Sinners. — There are more of 
this class than many imagine, and I may 
add that there are many kinds in this 
class. For instance, one says: "I sin every 
day in word, deed, and thought, but I am 
a Christian." Such belongs to the class of 
religious sinners. 

Another has joined somewhere and been 
baptized with water, but has no change of 
heart or life; he is a member of some de- 
nomination, but a religious sinner. 



HOLINESS GEMS. 85 

Others were really converted years ago, 
but did not go on unto perfection, and 
have lost the joy out of their souls. Some 
of them are quite jealous of their respect- 
ive parties, but knowing now nothing of 
real salvation, also belong to the religious 
sinner class. 

Many people attend holiness meetings, 
get powerfully convicted, won't yield, but 
resolve to do better, and start out to work 
their way to heaven by doing religion. 
Poor souls, after all their doing, without 
the renovating power of the Holy Ghost, 
they amount to nothing more than miser- 
able religious sinners. 

The people are ready to go anywhere 
but to the seekers' bench in humility, 
ready to join anybody but God, ready to 
be anything but a real Christian, if by so 
doing they can get but a shadow to hide 
under. Oh, dear, immortal soul, know 
that without the spirit of Christ you are 
none of His, and with all your doing, giv- 
ing, and going, you are only a religious 
sinner. — Pentecost. 



It is high time for us as Methodists to 
look closely, carefully, and prayerfully 



86 METHODIST STANDARD 

into our Book of Discipline, to ascer- 
tain how far distant our general practice 
is from our general rules and the rest of 
the book. 

"It is expected of all who continue in 
our Church to avoid putting on gold, or 
pearls, or costly array." Now, who are we 
to understand expects this of anybody else, 
as but few are clear in this matter from 
almost the least member to almost the 
highest bishop? Gold chains, pins, brace- 
lets, bosom and cuff buttons, rings for fin- 
gers and ears, gold spectacles, and gold- 
headed canes — in some form this rule is 
broken by bishops, presiding elders, pas- 
tors, local preachers, exhorters, class-lead- 
ers, stewards, Sabbath-school superintend- 
ents, and members — old, young, and 
middle-aged, both male and female, and 
by far the greater part of all of them. Oh! 
how this evil, or the appearance of it, 
does glisten, nearly all over, and nearly 
over all our Methodist people, who used to 
be so notable for humility, plainness of 
dress, and sweet simplicity in the days 
when they observed, kept, and enforced 
this Church rule, this Gospel precept. 

Our Discipline also says: 



HOLINESS GEMS. 87 

" Let all our people be exhorted to con- 
form to the spirit of this precept." 

But who are to do the exhorting? Why, 
just a few old fogy croakers, who are de- 
spised and ground under the iron heel of 
the wealthy lords and ladies who break 
the command without restraint. Our Gen- 
eral Eules cannot be plainly and faithfully 
read and explained one time out of twenty 
without exciting many members to a set 
opposition to and censure of the preacher. 
And more, the above rule is nowhere en- 
forced by the authority of the Church, 
and I do not believe a pastor could en- 
force it and live and preach in the 
Church. How very awful this state of 
things is! 

Again, all these members, when bap- 
tized, said: 

" I renounce the devil and all his works, 
the vain pomp and glory of the world, 
with all covetous desires of the same, and 
the carnal desires of the flesh, so that I 
will not be led by them." 

Once more, when being received into 
full membership, they said solemnly in 
the presence of God and the congregation : 

"I will cheerfully be governed by the 



88 METHODIST STANDARD 

rules of the M. E. Church, and will hold 
sacred the ordinances of God." 

Before closing, I want to give an ex- 
ample of this reckless violation of vows, j 
A preacher had just passed through a 
good revival, and thirty-seven were con- 
verted and had joined the Church. He 
read and explained the rules to them the 
first time they met after the revival meet- 
ing in which they were converted. Soon 
after this, while some parts of the rules 
were fresh in their minds, quarterly meet- 
ing came on. The presiding elder preached 
from Acts xviii : 17, where "Grallio cared 
for none of those things." On the way 
home, two little girls, young converts, 
were questioned in the presence of the 
elder about the text, but could not tell 
what or where it was. But at home the 
secret came out. Just at the announce- 
ment of his text, one of the girls said to 
the other, "Look at his gold chain and 
buttons ! how does he wear them if it is 
against the rules?" Now, where do you 
put the awful blame? On the fourteen- 
year-old girls or the presiding elder, who 
is over fifty? It preached this to me for 
a second sermon from the same text : 



HOLINESS GEMS. 89 

This elder, with thousands of others, has 
heard the rules read, the Scriptures and 
the Discipline on dress, and has made, rati- 
fied, and confirmed the promise in the bap- 
tismal covenant; but, like Gallio, he cares 
for none of those things. Hence, the 
Church, the young converts, and the cause 
generally must suffer on. May the Lord 
pity this wide-spread recklessness and con- 
formity to the world. — Original. 



In order to get a clean heart, a man 
must know and feel its depravity, acknowl- 
edge and deplore it before God, in order 
to be fully sanctified. Few are par- 
doned, because they do not feel and con- 
fess their sins ; and few are sanctified and 
cleansed from all sin, because they do not 
feel and confess their own sore and the 
plague of their hearts. — Adam Clarke. 



The petition, "Thy will be done in 
earth as it is in heaven," certainly points 
out a deliverance from all sin ; for nothing 
that is unholy can consist with the Divine 
will ; and if this be fulfilled in a man, surely 
all sin will be banished from his soul. 
Again : the holy angels never mingle in- 



90 METHODIST STANDARD 

iquity with their loving obedience ; and as 
our Lord teaches us to pray that we do His 
will here as they do it in heaven, can it be 
thought, He would put a petition into our 
mouths, the fulfillment of which was im- 
possible ? — Adam Clarice. 



Work of Holiness. — In some of the great 
halls of Europe may be seen pictures not 
painted with the brush, but mosaics, which 
are made up of small pieces of stone, glass, 
or other material. The artist takes these 
little pieces; and, polishing and arranging 
them, he forms them into the grand and 
beautiful picture. Each individual part 
of the picture may be a little worthless 
piece of glass or marble or shell ; but with 
each in its place, the whole constitutes the 
masterpiece of art. So I think it will be 
with humanity in the hands of the Great 
Artist. God is picking up the little worth- 
less pieces of stone and brass, that might 
be trodden under foot unnoticed, and is 
making of them His great masterpiece. — 
Bishop Simpson. 



The spirit of holiness gives to the Church 
an aptness and a grace in all its movements 



HOLINESS GEMS. 91 

and efforts for the conversion of the world. 
— Jenkyn. 

I must tell you we do not well understand 
what sanetification and the new creature are. 
It is no less than for a man to be brought 
to an entire resignation of his own will to 
the will of God, and to live in the offering- 
up of his soul continually in the flames of 
love, as a whole burnt-offering to Christ ; 
and, oh ! how many who profess Christian- 
ity are unacquainted experimentally with 
His work upon their souls ! — Arclibishop 
Usher. 

With all our wealth let us see well to it 
that the following become not true of our 
beloved Methodism : " See/' said an eccle- 
siastic, holding out a bowl of money be- 
fore Thomas Aquinas, f* the Church has 
no longer to say, ' Silver and gold have I 
none/" "True," replied the stern as- 
cetic, "and no longer is she able to say 
to the lame man, ( Stand up and walk/ 



« 



When a man has no desire but to speak 
plain truth, he may say a great deal in a 
very narrow space. 



92 METHODIST STAKDAKD 

A young girl of fifteen, a bright, laugh- 
ter-loving girl, was suddenly cast upon a 
bed of suffering. Completely paralyzed 
on one side, and nearly blind, she heard 
the family doctor say to her friends, who 
surrounded her, " She has seen her best 
days, poor child I" "Oh! no, doctor/' 
she exclaimed eagerly, "my best days are 
yet to come, when I see the King in His 
beauty." 

Christian perfection is a spiritual con- 
stellation, made up of these gracious stars, 
— perfect repentance, perfect faith, perfect 
humility, perfect meekness, perfect self-de- 
nial, perfect resignation, perfect hope, per- 
fect charity for our visible enemies as well 
as for our earthly relations, and, above all, 
perfect love for our invisible God through 
the explicit knowledge of our Mediator 
Jesus Christ. And as this last star is 
always accompanied by all the others, as 
Jupiter is by his satellites, we frequently 
use, as St. John, the phrase "perfect 
love/' instead of the word "perfection;" 
understanding by it the pure love of God 
shed abroad in the hearts of established 
believers by the Holy Ghost, which is 



HOLINESS GEMS. 93 

abundantly given them under the fullness 
of the Christian dispensation. — /. Fletcher. 



To Make Prayer Meetings Interesting. — 

1. Prepare for the meeting, and do not 
rush into it with your heart filled with the 
world. 

2. Be interested yourself in it, and then 
it will be interesting. 

3. Do not expect others to arouse you 
from your lethargy and interest you, but 
seek to arouse others, and to interest them. 

4. Go to worship God, to pray to Him, 
and sing praises and to commune with Him 
and your fellow-Christians. 

5. Do not criticise others in what they 
do or say. 

6. Do not indulge in a fault-finding spirit. 

7. If the prayers are more than five 
minutes long, don't complain. 

8. Do not occupy much time in speak- 
ing. Few words are needed, and those 
should be earnest and very spiritual as 
well as edifying. 

9. When you feel moved to speak, let 
it not be about yourself, nor to complain, 
nor an attempt to revise the translation of 
the Bible. 



94 METHODIST STANDARD 

10. Let every one be present and punc- 
tual. 

11. Join in the singing. 

12. Do not take a back seat or that 
farthest from the leader of the meeting. 

If you observe these directions you will 
not complain of uninteresting prayer meet- 
ings. — Intelligencer. 



Kind Words to Kind People. — If there 
could be such a thing as a Christian kill- 
ing a prayer meeting, it would be done in 
this wise : Have it not in all your thoughts 
from one prayer meeting to another. Don't 
think of it till the bell rings. Then come 
a little late, if you come at all, and sit as 
far back as you can find room. Sing slow, 
painfully slow. This is good poison for a 
waning, languishing prayer meeting. Wait 
patiently and quietly for everybody else to 
speak, or sing, or pray, unless you should 
w r hisper to your near neighbor, with a little 
giggle, €i Quaker meeting, this." When you 
do take part be tedious and dull. Speak 
of the deadness of the Church, and the 
dullness of the meeting. Look sad, gloomy, 
unsociable, and very distant. You can ex- 
change friendly greetings at other times and 



HOLINESS GEMS. 95 

places. If applying these rules does not kill 
it, stay away altogether for six months or a 
year. But, dear Christian friends, if you 
want to kill a prayer meeting, don't waste 
your strength hammering away at one that 
is already dead. But if you desire the resur- 
rection of a good institution, remember 
the time appointed for it, think of it, 
pray over it for a week at a time in your 
closet, make a whole week's calculation to 
go, come to the place in good time, be in- 
terested in the purpose and work of such 
meetings, be lively in all you do and say, 
and be sure you do and say something cheer- 
ful and encouraging, and you will not fail to 
have an interesting meeting, and one that 
will be constantly growing in interest to 
yourself and to others, and you and the 
meeting will both be blest of God and will 
do good in the community where you live. 
I appeal to your own heart and conscience, 
before God, is there not need enough of 
this? 

God help every one that has named the 
name of Christ to act well their part. 



The Pastor said the usual religious ser- 
vices would be suspended, to give place to 



96 METHODIST STANDARD 

a fair, which the ladies were going to hold 
in the church. Terms of admission, he 
said, would be ten cents for one evening, 
or thirty-five cents for the season, — supper 
twenty-five cents, and groceries and dry 
goods at reasonable rates, which he begged 
the friends to purchase for the good of the 
cause. For the same reason he urged the 
ladies to give their husbands no suppers at 
home, that they might patronize the fair. 
Indeed, he seemed to be intensely inter- 
ested, and made an argument that would be 
likely to command attention. 

After the singing of the hymn, he 
read a little sermon, the object and mean- 
ing of which we failed to comprehend. 
Some, however, enjoyed it, as they im- 
mediately went to sleep. The closing 
hymns and the benediction brought us all 
to our feet, and we retired decently and 
in order. 

Yet this is called a Methodist Church! 
The building is a gem, beautifully located, 
and surrounded by people who would fill 
every seat under live spiritual administra- 
tion, and yet not one-third full. What 
can be done to save poor Methodism from 
this pernicious policy? — Exchange. 



HOLINESS GE3IS. 97 

Willfully ignoring the teachings of God's 
word, worldly conformed ministers and 
church members are setting up a standard 
of practical religion that will admit of all 
the carnal pleasures of the day, and so 
far gratify the desires of depraved human 
nature that there is no necessity for any 
cross-bearing or self-denial; but, accord- 
ing to their theory, they can indulge in all 
the frivolities that the world affords, and 
finally be " saved in heaven." 

Eule No. 1, in this world-conceived 
plan, reads about like this: "It's no dif- 
ference what a person wears, so that the 
heart's right," which gives them license 
to deck themselves in all the fashions and 
foolishness of the world, and parade to 
church to make a grand display, wearing 
articles that give them the appearance of 
sadly deformed beings, causing untold 
misery and premature death ; professing 
to be the followers of the meek and lowly 
Lamb of God, who in His word plainly 
forbids the putting on of gold or costly 
apparel. 

We heard a minister of the M. E. Church 
reading the rules of the discipline lately, 
and commenting very forcibly on each, 



98 METHODIST STANDARD 

until he came to the rule which forbids 
the putting on of gold, which he read over 
hastily, and went on to scold his members 
for not keeping the next. He had a large 
gold ring on his finger, and had nothing 
io say about wearing gold. 

Eule No. 2: " Young people must have 
^some amusements." So they get up a 
■church fair, or festival, or Christmas tree, 
sand deceive the children with a Santa 
Claus, or with story books filled up with 
the most pernicious lies that human imag- 
ination can invent; all of which lead on 
to gambling, novel reading, dancing, and 
many other grosser sins of the same 
.kind. 

No. 3: "You can pray just as well sit- 
ting on your seats as to kneel down," is a 
xule made to suit the inflexible attire and 
to gratify selfish pride. And they sit su- 
pinely in their seats, affecting an air of 
solemnity while the minister prays. 

No. 4 : " We must associate with the 
world in order to get them saved." And 
they go with them in the ways of sin and 
wickedness, and get up a revival, and 
swoop them into the church, and report a 
number of accessions, and all join hands 



HOLINESS GEMS. 99 

with the world again, to have a good time, 
and bring in other members. 

A friend sent us a district Advocate a 
few days since, edited by a professed holi- 
ness P. E., which contained a few reports 
of meetings where a number had been con- 
verted and sanctified, and a little straight 
truth mixed in with a long list of favor- 
able mention of festivals, fairs, donation 
parties, Christmas trees, with the appear- 
ance of Santa Claus, etc., and now they 
are praying for a revival. Satan delights 
to have his followers profess holiness, and 
countenance these popular sins that are 
plunging thousands of deluded souls into 
hell. " We are living in a progressive age, 
and therefore can attend the theater, balls, 
parties, play games, read novels, belong to 
ungodly societies, wear gold and costly ap- 
parel, stay away from the class and prayer 
meetings, gamble in the church to get 
money to carry on God's work, and so on; 
for the Lord does not look at such things 
if the motive is good." And so they go on 
through the whole catalogue of popular 
worldliness, setting up a standard of relig- 
ion that any common sinner can live up 
to, and that is just as far below God's 



100 METHODIST STANDAKD 

standard of piety as sin is below holiness, 
expecting to stand before God in the judg- 
ment day shielded by such a "refuge of 
lies/* 

"Therefore thus saith the Lord God, 
Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a 
stone, a tried stone, a precious corner 
stone, a sure foundation : he that believ- 
eth shall not make haste. 

" Judgment also will I lay to the line, 
and righteousness to the plummet : and 
the hail shall sweep away the refuge of 
lies, and the waters shall overflow the 
hiding place. 

"And your covenant with death shall 
be disannulled, and your agreement with 
hell shall not stand; when the overflowing 
scourge shall pass through, then ye shall 
be trodden down by it." — Isa. xxviii : 16- 
18. — Mary Weems. 



Awakening sermons are rarely preached 
in these days as they were half a century 
back. This accounts for the lack of clear 
conversions in our revival seasons. Many 
have wondered why inquirers were less 
earnest and demonstrative in their plead- 
ings for mercy now than a few years ago. 



HOLINESS GEMS. 101 

The difference and its cause are clear enough 
to the writer. Most inquirers are hardly- 
convinced of sin at all. They believe in 
piety, think all ought to be good and be- 
long to some Christian Church, and hence 
come forward for prayer at our invitation. 
They join the Church, they are sincere 
in every step they take, but are they born 
of God and- truly changed in heart? — 
Rev. A. Atwood. 



The Holiest of All. — Paul in his epistle 
to the Hebrews, contrasting Christ's per- 
fect sacrifice with the imperfect ordinances 
of the first tabernacle; says into this first 
the priests went always accomplishing the 
service of God. But into the second went 
the high priest alone once a year to offer 
sacrifice for himself and the people, show- 
ing that the way into the holiest of all was 
not yet made manifest. For the law, pos- 
sessing not even a real image of the good 
things to come, but a mere shadow, could 
not make the comers thereunto perfect. 
And further, it made nothing perfect, but 
the bringing in of a better hope did, i.e., 
Christ in the time of reformation, in the 
New Testament provisions and privileges 



102 METHODIST STA1STDAED 

of the Gospel, the bringing in of a better 
hope did make the comers thereunto per- 
fect, and does make the comers thereunto 
perfect. Bless His great name ! 

Then Christ is represented as saying, 
" Lo, I come to do Thy will, God/' " by 
which will " {i.e. 9 if we allow it to be done 
in us ; if we comply with the conditions) 
" we are sanctified through the offer- 
ing of the body of Jesus Christ once for 
all. Having therefore, brethren, boldness " 
(i.e., permission, opportunity, nothing to 
hinder) "to enter into the holiest" {i.e., 
perfection, or complete holiness) " by the 
blood of Jesus by a* new and living way" 
(it being now opened up, brought to light, 
made manifest by Christ), "which He has 
consecrated for us through the veil, that is to 
say, His flesh " (by His death and suffer- 
ings) ; "and having a high priest over the 
house of God ; let us draw near with a true 
heart " (real consecration) " in full assur- 
ance of faith" (implicit trust), "having 
our hearts sprinkled from an evil con- 
science and our bodies washed with pure 
water" (sanctified wholly). glorious 
privilege of all God's children! — Origi- 
nal. 



I 

HOLINESS GEMS. 103 

God is ever ready, by the power of His 
Spirit, to carry us forward to every degree 
of life, light, and love, necessary to pre- 
pare us for an eternal weight of glory. 
There can be little difficulty in attaining 
the end of our faith, the salvation of our 
souls from all sin, if God carry us forward 
to it ; and this He will do, if we submit to 
be saved in His own way, and on His own 
terms. Many make a violent outcry against 
the doctrine of perfection ; that is, against 
the heart being cleansed from all sin in this 
life, and filled with love to God and man ; 
because they judge it to be impossible ! Is 
it too much to say of these, that they know 
neither the Scripture nor the power of God? 
Surely, the Scripture promises the thing, 
and the power of God can carry us on to 
the possession of it. — A. Clarke. 



You might as well attempt to check an 
earthquake as to prevent the going-forth 
of a spirit of holiness from a soul washed 
with blood or a Church refined by fire. — 
G. C. Wells. 

Prayer a substitute for fault-finding. — 
If things do not always please you, don't 
complain — just pray ! 



104 METHODIST STANDARD 

There is a moral omnipotence in holi- 
ness. Argument may be resisted ; persua- 
sion and entreaty may be scorned ; the 
thrilling appeals and monitions of the pul- 
pit, set forth with all vigor and logic, and 
all the glow of eloquence, may be evaded 
or disregarded ; but the exhibition of ex- 
alted piety has a might which nothing can 
withstand ; it is truth embodied ; it is the 
Gospel burning in the hearts, beaming from 
the eyes, breathing from the lips, and 
preaching in the lives, of its votaries. No 
sophistry can elude it, no conscience can 
ward it off. No bosom wears a mail that 
can brave the energy of its attack. It 
speaks in all languages, in all climes, and 
to all phases of our nature. It is univer- 
sal, invincible, and, clad in immortal pan- 
oply, goes on from victory to victory.— 
G. B. Ide. 

Thousands of preachers who are preju- 
diced against entire sanctification, are 
blindly urging their poor unsaved congre- 
gation to live practical holiness, and yet 
turn around and oppose the getting of en- 
tire heart holiness, which is the only thing 
in the universe that produces the true 



HOLINESS GEMS. 105 

practice of it. In order to practice holiness 
we must have it. — Exchange. 



I rode on the sky, freely justified I, 

Nor envied Elijah his seat; 
My soul mounted higher in a chariot of fire, 

And the moon it was under my feet ; 
Jesus all the day long, was my joy and my song; 

that all his salvation may see ! 
He hath loved me, I cried, he hath suffered and 
died 

To redeem such a rebel as me ! 



Art thou weary of that carnal mind 
which is enmity to God? Canst thou be 
happy while thou art unholy? Dost thou 
know anything of God's love to thee ? 
Dost thou not know that He has given 
His Son to die for thee? Dost thou love 
Him in return for His love? Hast thou 
even a little love to Him? And canst 
thou love Him a little without desiring to 
love Him more? Dost thou not feel that 
thy happiness grows in proportion to thy 
love and subjection to Him? Dost thou 
not wish to be happy? And dost thou 
not know that holiness and happiness are 
as inseparable as sin and misery? Canst 
thou have too much happiness or too 



106 METHODIST STANDARD 

much holiness? Canst thou be made 
holy and happy too soon? Art thou not 
weary of a sinful heart? Are not thy bad 
tempers, pride, anger, peevishness, fret- 
fulness, covetousness, and the various un- 
holy passions that too often agitate thy 
soul, a source of misery and woe to thee ? 
And canst thou be unwilling to have them 
destroyed? Arise, then, and shake thy- 
self from the dust, and call upon thy 
God! His ear is not heavy that it cannot 
hear; His hand is not shortened that it 
cannot save. Behold, now is the accepted 
time! — Adam Clarice. 



Mrs. Partington uttered more truth than 
she thought when she said: "Dear me! 
nothing don't do me so much good as to 
go to church Sunday morning and hear a 
precious minister dispense with the Gos- 
pel ! " Yes, dear soul, that is exactly 
what some of them do. They give us 
anything and everything but the glad 
tidings of salvation, and then they wonder 
that their chapels become empty. Yet it 
does not do to say as much, or you will 
have a hornet's nest about your ears. Of 
course, they preach Gospel — that is to say, 



HOLINESS GEMS. 107 

a gospel, if not the Gospel. What is the 
difference ? Only the indefinite for the 
definite article; only sand instead of rock; 
only opinion in the place of truth ! 
Blessed is he who dispenses the Gospel, 
but cursed is he who dispenses with it. — 
C. H. Spurgeon. 

Holiness is the only means by which 
holiness can be diffused. It is like salt : 
its usefulness to others must begin with 
itself. The man who fails to persuade 
himself to be holy is sure to be unsuc- 
cessful with others. It is the wise man 
that can impart wisdom to others; it is 
the good man that can diffuse goodness; 
and it is only the holy man that can dif- 
fuse holiness. Every man can bring forth 
to others only out of the treasures depos- 
ited first in his own heart. He who un- 
dertakes to restore mankind to clear-sight- 
edness must be of clear and accurate vision 
himself, for he who has a beam in his own 
eye is not likely to remove either beam or 
mote from the eye of the world. The 
physician who is to restore health to others 
must not himself be fretting with the lep- 
rosy. — Jenkyn. 



108 METHODIST STANDARD 

Persevering Prayer. — A lady in England 
whose husband was an infidel, determined 
to pray for him for a year. She did so, 
but there was no change. Then she made 
up her mind to pray for him six months 
longer for his conversion. Still no change. 
At the end of that time she said: "HI 
pray for him to the end of my life; HI 
never give him up." That was just the 
condition of mind which God wanted to 
bring her to. That very day her husband 
came home, went to his chamber, fell on 
his knees, and cried, "0 Lord, save me!" 



Confessing Christ. — The blessing of 
Heaven will fall upon you, and you shall 
have peace and joy if you confess Christ. 



Everlasting Remorse the Sinner's Por- 
tion. — Do you think that Judas, after 
nearly 1,900 years, has forgotten that he 
betrayed the Saviour for thirty pieces of 
silver ? Do you think that Cain, after 
5,000 years, has forgotten the pleading 
look of his brother Abel when he slew him? 



The Methodist Crown.—" Hold that 
fast which thou hast, that no man take 



HOLINESS GEMS. 109 

thy crown." — Eev. iii : 11. It is, per- 
haps, of little consequence what branch of 
the Christian Church takes the lead in 
Christian work. But it is a matter of 
serious import whether the Methodist 
Episcopal Church is fulfilling her destiny. 
So far as Boston and vicinity is concerned, 
there is room for grave doubt. We do not 
believe she is preaching the truth with the 
old-time fidelity and power/ Men are 
saved by the truth, and it was character- 
istic of the fathers to declare the whole 
counsel of God, whether men would hear 
or forbear. The leading laymen are op- 
posed to radical utterances from the pul- 
pit, and to radical methods of Church 
work, and yet these were the very things 
that gave Methodism her power. The 
preachers are in sympathy with the lead- 
ing laymen. jSTo such sharp issues are 
made with the devil and sin as in the 
olden time. Culture, propriety, nicety, 
are thought more of than hard knocks at 
error and wrong. 

The first result is a defective Christian 
experience. Clear-cut conversions cannot 
be had without clear-cut sermons. Then 
the doctrine of "perfect love," or "entire 



110 METHODIST STANDARD 

sanctification," is scarcely preached at all. 
Here is an illustration. An educated young 
minister of several years' experience in some 
of our best suburban towns, gave an address 
on the subject of " Christian perfection/' 
and a very good talk it was, and but for a 
fatal defect would have been helpful to his 
people. Just as he was about to close he 
said : "BUT — this experience is far in the 
future. It is something to be constantly 
.approached, but never reached in this 
life." Now we beg to say that this is not 
Methodism, and that this is not preaching 
-Christian perfection at all. And yet it is 
~fche best the average Methodist pulpit can 
•do on the subject of "full salvation" ! 
Our pulpit has become Calvinized, and 
"hence paralyzed, on that subject. 

Who is likely to take the Methodist 
crown ? Anybody who will preach a 
sharp, hot Gospel, striking sin wherever 
it can be found — in North Street or in be- 
lievers' hearts. The Baptists have some 
very live churches in Boston. Nothing in 
Methodism can be compared to them. The 
Presbyterians are a rising people, and there 
are likely to be some independent move- 
ments, like that of Dr. Cullis, unless Meth- 



HOLINESS GEMS. Ill 

odism, and other churches as well, wake up. 
The holiness revival is making people very- 
hungry for a stalwart Gospel. The Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church could supply the 
demand, easily enough, if the pastors and 
official boards would see their golden op- 
portunity. But we fear they will not. They 
don't act that way at present. We are well 
aware that it is easier to talk the old-fash- 
ioned experience of full salvation in Dr. 
Gordon's church, than in several Methodist 
churches we could name. And we know 
that many of the bright young men and 
women of Methodist families, sick of the 
insipid utterances of some Methodist pul- 
pits, seek a healthier and a sturdier nutri- 
ment at the altars of other denominations. 
Brother Methodist! "let no man take 
thy crown/' and do not, we beseech you, 
think us "your enemy because we tell you 
the truth." — Selected. 



"While there is an empty, longing heart, 
there is a continual overflowing fountain of 
salvation. If we find, in any place, or at 
any time, that the oil ceases to flow, it is 
because there are no empty vessels there ; 
no souls hungering and thirsting for right- 



112 METHODIST STANDARD 

eousness. We find fault with the dispen- 
sations of God's mercy, and ask, "Why 
were the former days better than these ? 93 
Were we as much in earnest for our salva- 
tion as our forefathers were for theirs, we 
should have equal supplies, and as much 
reason to sing aloud of Divine mercy. — 
Adam Clarice. 

Christians Watched. — The unbelieving 
world, the skeptics holding out their false 
lights, are watching you and me. When 
Jacob put away his idols, he could go up 
to Bethel and get strength and the blessing 
— so will it be with the Church of God. A 
viper fixes upon the hand of the ship- 
wrecked Paul ; immediately he is judged 
by the barbarians some criminal unfit to 
live ; but he shakes it off into the fire, and 
suffers no harm, and now they are ready 
to worship him, and ready, too, to hear 
and receive his message; the Church of 
God must shake off the vipers that have 
fastened on hand and heart, too, ere men 
will hear. Where one ungodly man reads 
the Bible, a hundred read you and me : 
and if they find nothing in us, they set the 
whole thing aside as a myth. — Selected. 



HOLINESS GEMS. 113 

Some think that their obligations to God 
and man are limited by their "profes- 
sions." If they do not "profess" to be 
Christians; if they do not "profess" to 
be entirely sanctified ; if they do not make 
"as loud a profession" as some one else 
does, they seem to think that they thereby 
absolve themselves from realizing religious 
experiences, performing Christian duties, 
and facing present and eternal responsi- 
bilities. They do not talk and act as if 
creation, preservation, providence, and re- 
demption had placed them under a debt of 
gratitude to God. Eev. Phillips Brooks 
graphically describes such people thus : — 
"'lam no Christian/ says the practical 
man ; c I do not pretend to be pious or re- 
ligious/ And then he looks up in your 
face as if he had settled the whole ques- 
tion, as if his entire business thenceforth 
were just to stand by and see what sort of 
a Christian you were, and how your piety 
came on." How God will "settle the 
question" when they come to stand be- 
fore the great White Throne does not 
seem to enter their heads, hearts, and con- 
sciences. — Selected. 



114 METHODIST STANDAKD 

Whosoever Will. — As the obligation to 
be holy is binding upon all, we must not 
conclude that the capacity to understand 
it is confined to a few. It is a royal love 
feast, and the invitation is to ■' whosoever 
will." The cards of invitation are not 
written in hieroglyphics, decipherable only 
by the learned, but in characters so plain 
that he that runs may read. The confu- 
sion, perplexity, delay, and defeat are of 
men's own making. They make mystery 
where God made none. They make dispu- 
tations where God would have rejoicings. 
It is as if a hungry company should sit 
down to a table loaded with the best f ood, 
and go to quarreling about the order of 
the different courses or the contents of the 
covered dishes. It would seem as if many 
misread the invitation, making it say 
"Come and dispute," instead of the 
Master's words, "Come and eat." Thus 
they lose their appetites and their tem- 
pers, and go away unfed. Thus others 
who hunger and thirst are repelled. The 
din of disputation still is sounding when 
the air should be filled with songs of joy. 

Confused by these contradictory voices, 
saying, " Lo, here ! Lo, there ! " envel- 



HOLINESS GEMS. 115 

oped in the fogs raised by polemical strife, 
many, filled with despair or disgust, stop 
short of the blessing. In the reaction that 
follows the disappointment of a mighty 
hope, some lose heart and turn to pleasure 
with greediness, feeling within them the 
yoid which the whole world cannot fill. 
Others, tossed to and fro on the waves of 
the stormy sea of debate, find only a source 
of painful disturbance in that which should 
be the sweetness and joy of their lives. A 
still larger number, we fear, are confirmed 
in the maintenance of an attitude of indif- 
ference to the whole matter, saying within 
themselves that there is no use for them to 
seek the gift of G-od where others have 
found only the strife of tongues. God for- 
give the quarrelsome, pity the bewildered, 
rouse the indifferent, and lead all truly will- 
ing souls into the light ! To all we would 
speak a few words. 

Holiness is not a riddle. Dismiss forever 
the notion that when you would consider 
it you enter the realm of mystery and per- 
plexity. It is the region of sunshine, not 
of fog and night. As it concerns the high- 
est interest of the soul, so it shines in the 
clearest light. Here, where most is at stake, 
is greatest certainty. 



116 METHODIST STANDARD 

Holiness is not merely a dogma. All 
earnest men and women are not expert 
theory-builders. Many lack the time for 
metaphysical hair-splitting and laborious 
examination of what dead men have written 
on the controversial aspects of the subject. 
The Bible, the text-book of holiness, leads 
to it through no labyrinthian windings. It 
goes in a straight line to the mark. It points 
to the atoning blood that cleanseth from all 
sin. It demands the perfect trust that brings 
perfect peace. It requires a complete re- 
nunciation of the world that the heart may 
be filled with the fullness of God. It says 
eat and live ; do and know ; enter the 
school of Christ, and find rest ; begin the 
new life, and go on to perfection. Holy 
men and women are children of the light ; 
they are not of the night or of darkness. 
They walk in the light of the Lord, and 
their path shines more and more. The 
secret is to keep in the path of duty. The 
true light shines there ; the false lights 
deceive only such as leave it. The com- 
pendium of holiness is, " Follow Jesus." 

Holiness is not a blessing for the future, 
but for the present. This is a crucial 
statement. By it shall the thoughts of 



HOLINESS GEMS. 117 

many hearts be revealed. Holiness now ! 
Does your heart shrink back with a sort 
of reluctance and hesitancy ? Then you 
do not want it. You are not ready to sell 
all that you may buy this goodly pearl ; 
you keep back part of the price. You 
are yet carnal. Yours is a divided heart, 
and yours must be a joyless experience 
and a barren life. The blessing prom- 
ised to such as hunger and thirst after 
righteousness — the righteousness of par- 
don and purity, of justification and sancti- 
fication — is not for you. You do not want 
it except in the vague, foolish, unworthy 
sense that when you can no longer cling 
to the world, the security and the joys of 
religion mav be within your reach. Is this 
your inward thought ? If so, it bars your 
way to the blessing as effectually as did 
Esau's trade for the mess of pottage cut 
him off from his glorious birthright. You 
too are an Esau, selling your Divine birth- 
right to holiness for the carnality you will 
not part with now. The neglect of so great 
salvation can only end in the loss of it. 

But why delay? The call is not to begin 
a course of study, but to be holy. It is 
not to sit down and make maps of a road 



118 METHODIST STANDARD 

to be traveled, but to start at once. It 
is not to study a printed bill of fare, but 
to feast now on the royal bounty of the 
King, whose table is spread, and whose 
invitation is, "Come." Let the whole 
Church respond. The Master waits, has 
waited long. To-day, if ye will hear His 
voice, shall be the day of salvation. — 
King's Highway. 



How positively do they hold out death 
as the complete deliverer from all corrup- 
tion, and the final destroyer of sin, as if it 
were revealed in every page of the Bible, 
whereas there is not one passage in the 
sacred volume that says any such thing. 
Were this true, then death, far from being 
the last enemy, would be the last and best 
friend, and the greatest of all deliverers ; 
for if the last remains of all the indwelling 
sin of all believers is to be destroyed by 
death (and a fearful mass this will make), 
then death, that removes it, must be the 
highest benefactor of mankind. The truth 
is, it is neither the cause nor the means 
of sin's destruction. It is the blood of 
Jesus alone that cleanseth from all un- 
righteousness. 



HOLINESS GEMS. 119 

It is supposed that indwelling sin is 
useful even to true believers, because it 
humbles them and keeps them low in 
their own estimation. A little examina- 
tion will show that this is contrary to the 
fact. It is generally, if not universally, 
allowed that pride is of the essence of 
sin, if not its very essence, and the root 
whence all moral obliquity flows. How, 
then, can pride humble us? Is not this 
absurd? Where is there a sincere Chris- 
tian, be his creed what it may, that does 
not deplore his proud, rebellious, and un- 
subdued heart and will as the cause of all 
his wretchedness, the thing that mars his 
best sacrifices, and prevents his commun- 
ion with God? How often do such people 
say or sing, both in their public and pri- 
vate devotions: 

" But pride, that busy sin, 
Spoils all that I perform!" 

Were there no pride there would be no 
sin, and the heart from which it is cast 
out has the humility, meekness, and gen- 
tleness of Christ implanted in its stead. 

But still it is alleged, as an indubitable 
fact, that "a man is humbled under a 



120 METHODIST STAJSTDAKD 

sense of indwelling sin." I grant that 
they who see and feel and deplore their 
indwelling sin are humbled, but is it the 
sin that humbles? No. It is the grace of 
God, that shows and condemns the sin, 
that humbles us. Neither the devil nor 
his work will ever show themselves. Pride 
works frequently under a dense mask, and 
will often assume the garb of humility. 
How true is that saying, and of how many 
is it the language: 

" Proud I am my wants to see, 
Proud of my humility." 

And, to conceal his working, even Satan 
himself is transformed into an angel of 
light! It appears, then, that we attribute 
this boasted humiliation to a wrong cause. 
We never are humbled under a sense of 
indwelling sin till the Spirit of God drags 
it to the light, and shows us not only its 
horrid deformity, but its hostility to God, 
and He manifests it that He may take it 
away. But a false opinion causes man to 
hug the monster, and to contemplate their 
chains with complacency! 

"It has been objected to this perfection 
that the persons who profess to have been 



HOLINESS GEMS. 121 

made thus perfect are proud and super- 
cilious, and their whole conduct says to 
their neighbor, ' Stand by, I am holier 
than thou/ " No person that acts so has 
ever received this grace. He is either a 
hypocrite or a self-deceiver. Those who 
have received it are full of meekness, 
gentleness, and long-suffering; they love 
God with all their hearts; they love even 
their enemies; love the whole human 
family, and are servants of all. They 
know they have nothing but what they 
have received. In the splendor of God's 
holiness they feel themselves absorbed. — 
Adam Clarice, 

1. Holiness is the state of man's spirit- 
ual nature in this life after inborn deprav- 
ity, or the native propensity to sin, is 
removed. 

2. It is a post-conversion experience. 

3. It is obtainable soon after conver- 
sion. 

4. It is inwrought by the Spirit of God. 

5. It implies a pure state of grace, but 
not a mature state of grace; no more than 
a clean garden implies the maturity of the 
useful plants in it. 



122 METHODIST STANDARD 

6. It is a subtracting process, a cleans- 
ing transaction, the very opposite of 
growth. Growth involves the idea of ad- 
dition and increase. But spiritual growth 
is made healthy by this cleansing trans- 
action. 

7. Holiness does not prevent having 
trials. 

8. It does not exclude the liability to 
sin and final apostasy. 

9. It is received through faith. 

10. It is a conscious state. 

11. It is susceptible of expansion. 

12. Necessary requisites to reach a state 
of entire sanctification may be stated in 
short as follows : A clear state of justifi- 
cation. 

13. A belief in the present attainment 
of it. 

14. Scriptural views of the nature of it. 

15. Consecration of all to God. 

16. An act of faith. The faith required 
is no more nor less than believing that 
God is faithful and true to His word, and 
gives the cleansing now. — Sheridan Baker. 



The Beauty of Holiness. — What is so 
beautiful ? It is the heart cleansed of 



HOLINESS GEMS. 123 

defiling desires ; the heart filled with Di- 
vine sweetness,, lifted into the atmosphere 
of God, breathing' His breath, wearing His 
expression, speaking His language, dwell- 
ing in His arms. Such a soul "abhors 
the thing unclean" with an instinctive 
and powerful detestation that knows no 
restraint nor limitation. Its whole being 
shrinks appalled from the very sight or 
thought of sin. No child fears or flies a 
wild beast so swiftly, no woman hides from 
deadly pursuers so closely. What a drop 
of vitriol is to the rose-tint, what a grain 
of prussic acid is to the sensitive tissues of 
the stomach, what a murderous blow is to 
him before whose awakening eyes the knife 
in the robber's hand is seen descending — 
this, and more, is sin to a holy soul. For 
these only produce material ruin, that 
burns to the lowest hell. These destroy 
all they can; so does that. These kill the 
body, that the soul ; these ruin the tem- 
poral and transient being, that the eternal. 
— Ex. 

There are so many shams in the Church, 
and so much vanity and worldly conform- 
ity in its members, that M. G. Pearse 



124 METHODIST STANDARD 

says: "If ninety-nine hundredths of them 
were comfortably buried, they would only 
be missed by the baker and tailor." 



There ought to be more prayers offered, 
as a brother in prayer-meeting prayed, 
for the absent ones on "beds of sickness 
and on sofas of wellness." 



It is better to stop arguing the question 
of holiness with anybody, and with books 
too, and quit making objections to it as 
a doctrine and as an experience, and just 
go to God and get it. As M. G-. Pearse 
says, " There is but one way of safety for 
us. It is to give ourselves right up to the 
claims of God in Jesus Christ, and to the 
power of His grace, saying and praying, 
Lord, save me as far as Thou canst, and 
when Thou canst save me no further, then, 
and then only, will I be content to wait." 



Twelve golden rules. 

1. When called, to rise without delay; 

2. To think before and while I pray ; 

3. My tongue and temper well to sway ; 

4. No low or ribald word to say ; 

5. To tell the truth, let come what may; 

6. To catch " odd moments " ere they stray; 



HOLINESS GEMS. 125 

7. Without an answer to obey; 

8. To sulk no more when friends say Nay ; 

9. About no task to lounge or stay ; 

10. To know my lessons ere I play ; 

11. To take my share of giving way ; 

12. And read my Bible every day. 

Selected. 



No man can be a Christian who volun- 
tarily indulges in what he knows to be 
wrong. — Albert Barnes. 



A state of justification cannot be re- 
tained while sin is committed. — J, A. 
Wood. 

Eegeneration is the lowest degree of 
sanctification. It will be well, as soon as 
seekers find peace, to exhort them to go 
on to perfection. — J. Wesley. 

The general opinion is that there must 
necessarily be many months or years be- 
tween conversion and sanctification. This 
is a grievous error. — /. S. Inskip. 



To hasten over into the spiritual Canaan 
of perfect love is among the first lessons of 
the Holy Spirit to the young converts. — 
J. A. Wood. 



126 METHODIST STAKDAKD 

Eegeneration implies the subjugation of 
the body of sin, and complete sanctifi- 
cation, its entire destruction. — Dr. G. 
Peck. 

When inbred sin is destroyed there can 
be no increase of purity, but there may be 
of love and of all the fruit of the Spirit. — 
Binney. 

When the embarrassments are thus re- 
moved the progress is more rapid, every 
virtue increasing in strength and bright- 
ness. — L. Lee. 

1. In the regenerate sin does not reign; 
in the entirely sanctified it does not exist. 

2. In the regenerate the power of sin is 
broken and enfeebled; in the entirely sanc- 
tified it is destroyed. 

3. In the regenerate evil temper and 
desires are subdued; in the entirely sanc- 
tified they are removed. 

4. Eegeneration is salvation from com- 
mitting sin ; entire sanctification is salva- 
tion from the inbeing principle of sin. 

5. Eegeneration is the old man of sin — 
Adam — carnality — bound; entire sanctifi- 



HOLINESS GEMS. 127 

cation is the same cast out and spoiled of 
his goods. 

6. Eegeneration is cleansing begun; en- 
tire sanctification is cleansing completed, 
finished, holiness perfected in the fear of 
God. — Nearly the Formula of W. Mc- 
Donald. 

1. Perfect loye is perfect in quality ; 
pure; no alloy. 

2. It fills the heart and enlarges it. 

3. Perfect love is constant loye if its 
possessor is constant. 

4. It is progressive love. 

5. Perfect love casts out fear. 

6. It brings out more fully and clearly 
the evidences of our conversion, detaches 
the affections from all forbidden objects, 
destroys all relish for carnal things, and is 
distinguished by the character of its en- 
joyments, craving only the spiritual, the 
holy, and the Divine. — /. A. Wood. 



In illustration of the truth of the last 
"Gem" above given, I want to add the 
testimony of Brother Joseph Smith, as 
related in his sermon at camp-meeting. 
He said the blessing of entire sanctifica- 



128 METHODIST STANDARD 

tion and perfect love even brought Satan 
to testify to his conversion. When he 
realized himself to be converted, he testi- 
fied to the same ; but the devil said, "No, 
you are not converted; you are deceived; 
you are misled." But Brother S. believed 
God's word, and went on as fast as he 
could and got the blessing of full salva- 
tion, and testified to that. . And then 
Satan came again, and said, "You are not 
sanctified: you are just converted now." 
And at this Brother S. cried: "Glory to 
God! the blessing of sanctification makes 
the devil testify to my conversion." 



1. God commands us to be holy. 2. 
None of His commands can be more 
binding. 3. If holiness is not attain- 
able, God commands what is impossible. 
4. Every command given is to be obeyed 
as soon as intelligently heard by those for 
whom God intends it. 5. We Christians 
are expressly exhorted to be holy. 6. It 
is clearly promised in God's word. 7. 
Provisions abundant have been made for 
this in the Gospel. 8. Numerous exam- 
ples of its possession are given in God's 
word. — Original. 



HOLINESS GEMS. 129 

Entire cleansing is the negative side of 
perfection,, and filling with Divine love is 
the positive side. — Original. 



"And sin not." 1 Cor. xv : 34. 

"I write unto you that ye sin not." 1 
John ii : 1. 

" And sin not." Eph. iv : 26. 

" And sin not." Ps. iv : 4. 

"That ye sin not." Ex. xx : 20. 

te He that committeth sin is of the 
devil." 1 Johniii: 8. 

"The soul that sinneth it shall die." 
Ezkl. xviii : 4. 

There is no license to sin in the Bible, 
neither for angel, man, or devil, child or 
adult, saint or sinner. Whoever sins is a 
sinner. Only sinning makes man a sin- 
ner. Everybody that sins is a sinner. Holy 
Adam, as soon as he sinned was a sinner. 
The angels who kept not their first estate, 
were sinful after their first rebellion. A 
church member that sins is no exception. 
They are not sinning saints, but sinners, 
■ — lost sinners, except they repent and seek 
pardon. Eead 1 John iii : 4 ; Ezkl. 18. 
Theee is no license to sin. — Highway. 



130 METHODIST STANDARD 

In the teachings of John Wesley : 1. He 
positively states that unsanctified believers 
are delivered from the guilt and power of 
sin, but not from the being of sin. — Ser- 
mon on Sin in Believers. 

2. That regenerate persons, feeling no 
evil in their hearts, imagine none is there, 
and that when they were justified, they 
were entirely sanctified ; but this is con- 
trar}^ to Scripture, reason, and experience ; 
for though sin does not reign in them, it 
does remain. — Sermon on Repentance of 
Believers. 

3. Certainly sanctification (in the proper 
sense) is an instantaneous deliverance from 
all sin.— Vol. 7, p. 717. 

4. The children of God scattered abroad 
generally agree in this : that though we 
may by the Spirit mortify the deeds of the 
body ; resist and conquer outward and in- 
ward sin ; though we may weaken our en- 
emies day by day, yet we cannot drive 
them out. By all the grace given in jus- 
tification we cannot extirpate them. Not 
till it pleases God to speak to our hearts 
again — to speak the second time, "Be 
clean \" and then only the leprosy is 
cleansed ; then only the evil root, the car- 



HOLINESS GEMS. 131 

nal mind, is destroyed ; inbred sin subsists 
no more. But if there be no such second 
change ; if there be no instantaneous de- 
liverance after justification, then we must 
be content as well as we can to remain 
full of sin till death.— Vol 1, p. 122. 

5. I have constantly testified (for these 
five-and-twenty years) in private and pub- 
lic, that we are sanctified as weil as justi- 
fied by faith.— Works, Vol 1, p. 888. 

6. If by faith, expect it as you are ; and 
if as you are, expect it now. Expect it by 
faith, expect it as you are, and expect it 
now. Do you believe we are sanctified by 
faith ? Be true to your principle, and 
stay for nothing. Christ is ready. He 
is all you want. He is at the door. Let 
your inmost soul cry out : 

"Come in, come in, Thou heavenly guest, 
Nor hence again remove ; 
But sup with me and let the feast 
Be everlasting love.'' 

— Sermoji, Vol. 1, p. 891. 



I will now briefly sum up the teachings 
of the above. When closely examined, 
there is taught a clear distinction between 
regeneration and sanctification ; that there 
is a form of sin still remaining in merely 



132 METHODIST STANDARD 

justified believers ; that sanctification in 
its proper sense, is deliverance from the 
last form of sin ; that it is subsequent 
to justification ; that it is the work of 
God ; is accomplished in an instant ; is a 
second change ; is received by faith ; and 
that every truly consecrated soul may go 
up at once, and possess the land of per- 
fect love ; and it is shown just how he 
must go up. Now I appeal to you, be- 
loved preachers and people, I adjure you, 
by the mercies of God, that you tarry not 
in the wilderness, for you are well able to 
overcome and possess. — Original. 



It is the will of God that you should be 
holy now. This lays upon you the weight 
of imperative obligation. His will is the 
law of your life. You must obey or be 
condemned. No excuse will avail. No 
delay can be justified. Duty or disobedi- 
ence is the plain issue. Listen to no soph- 
istry, whether from man or devil, that 
would tempt you to doubt or to delay ; 
the will of God is your sanctification. 



All that get there pass along this way : 
I. A period of conviction when the need 
of holiness is felt. 



HOLINESS GEMS. 133 

II. The seeking period, when the bless- 
ing is definitely sought. / 

III. The point of full surrender, when 
the consecration of all is made. 

IV. The realization of God's promise by 
faith ; and 

Y. An after experience of perfect peace. 
— /. K Page, 

Both our calling and our privileges arc 
high. We are called from the delusive 
ways of sin, and the condemnation, and the 
spiritual death of the same, to the privilege 
of justification of life. Bom. v : 18. The 
justified ones (i.e., the truly converted 
souls) are called, "not to uncleanness, 
but unto holiness.-" 1 Thess. iv : 7. Paul 
wrote to the Thessalonian Christians, who 
were true followers of him and of Christ 
(1 Thess. i : 6), that the will of God con- 
cerning them reached even unto their sanc- 
tification. 1 Thess. iv : 3. The degree of 
sanctification here meant is clearly shown 
in the fifth chapter, 23d verse, in the 
words of Paul's prayer for them, "Sanctify 
you wholly" (that is entirely). And he 
also adds in his prayer that they might be 
kept in that state, unto the coming of the 



134 METHODIST STANDARD 

Lord Jesus Christ. He assured them that 
this was their high calling, and that it 
would be done if they stood fast and true 
to God. This same great Apostle also 
teaches in another letter that when true 
believers are in this state, they can and 
may live without offense till the day of 
Christ (Phil, i: 10) ; and be "presented 
to Him (now just as soon as, and just ac- 
cording to the number of them, entirely 
sanctified) ; a glorious Church, not having 
spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing ; but 
holy and without blemish." Eph. v : 27. 
Our privileges also are, to be continually 
"led by the Spirit/' "guided by the coun- 
sel of the Most Highland afterwards; 
"after that we have" rejoiced on earth, 
and suffered awhile, to be received up into 
(glorification) glory. The most important 
blessing that can come to a human soul is 
" justification," because it is the turning 
point of its whole existence. The sweetest 
and most precious blessing that can reach 
a soul this side of heaven, is "entire sanc- 
tification." This brings the Christian to 
the uttermost boundary of earthly bliss. 
There is a great secret concerning this 
blessing that needs heralding by sure 



HOLINESS GEMS. 135 

sounding trumpets to the world of Chris- 
tians ; and that is, that it is just as truly the 
immediate privilege of every Christian, as 
conversion is the immediate privilege of 
the penitent sinner at the altar. And on 
the same condition : that is, faith in the 
promise that holds out the blessing. The 
sinner has a conditional promise for par- 
don in 1 John i : 9. This also promises 
cleansing (washing of regeneration) for 
the guilt and pollution of his positive acts 
of sin (all unrighteous). The Christian 
has a conditional promise of entire cleans- 
ing, even from the principle of sin (carnal 
mind), which, when he was a sinner, unre- 
newed, caused his positive acts of disobe- 
dience ; see the seventh verse of the same 
chapter. We are as truly authorized by 
this promise to come to God for an instant 
and complete sanctification from the prin- 
ciple of sin inherited from Adam as we are 
by any other and all other promises, to 
come for an instantaneous pardon and re- 
generation. 0, how you would exhort a 
poor penitent sinner to believe for pardon. 
Dear ones, I implore you just so, to believe 
for full salvation just nozv. Lastly, glori- 
fication is the highest calling and privilege 



136 METHODIST STANDARD 

of our existence. It is the crowning and 
the concentrating point, and the consum- 
mation of our chiefest glory and joy. — 
Original. 

"The Lord preserved David whitherso- 
ever he went. " How circumstantial, mi- 
nute and constant must this Divine keeping 
have been ! And if God so kept David, 
why not you, or me, or any one ? " God is 
no respecter of persons." It is true e{ David 
was the man after God's own heart." But 
why was he so ? It was his character, not 
God's partiality to his person, that brought 
about such extraordinary interest in all 
his movements. "The steps of any good 
man are ordered by the Lord." Yours as 
surely and as much as David's, if you de- 
sire and determine that they shall be. Put 
yourself in God's hands— now ! — Selected. 



Divine Guidance. — We all need it so 
much. God is abundantly able to give it 
to us. He is all-wise, while we are very 
much lacking in wisdom. He foresees all 
things, while we cannot see afar off, and 
cannot see or do anything aright of our- 
selves. Then He is so willing to guide 



HOLINESS GEMS. 137 

us, and so ready ; just waiting to be gra- 
cious in this as in many other ways. He 
condescends both to guide us and to in- 
form us of His desire so to do, in His word 
and in His Providence. If we all desired 
His guidance as much as He desires to give 
it, we could have it, and how blessed and 
safe it would be for any human that lives. 
We must be willing to be led of God, de- 
sire to be led of God, and obey what He 
says — obey unflinchingly what He com- 
mands, and turn not aside from obedi- 
ence even if it hurts to obey. Turn not 
aside for the sake of ill-gotten gain, or 
fame, or popularity. Obedience is best, 
even if there is a temporary affliction and 
financial loss ; on this line, temporary loss 
is eternal and heavenly gain. " As many 
as are led by the Spirit of God, they are 
the sons of God," Eom. viii : 14. "If any 
man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is 
none of His," Eom. viii : 9. No one has 
this spirit if they are not willingly led and 
guided by it. Whosoever has it, and is 
guided by it, is led clear of all commission 
of sin. How vain and foolish and false, 
then, it is for persons to call themselves 
His, and at the same time be going in the 



138 METHODIST STANDAKD 

way of various sins — and the very worst 
of sins — dishonesty, deception, cheating, 
righting, quarreling grudging, grumbling, 
drinking, drunkenness, and making drunk. 
"If we say we haye fellowship with God, 
and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not 
the truth," 1 John i: 6. — Original. 



Personal or Individual Responsibility. — 

As surely as we have an existence, and intel- 
ligence enough to be responsible, we are so. 
Each one for ourselves, to ourselves, to our 
fellow-men, and above all to God, account- 
able in proportion to privileges and oppor- 
tunities that are placed within our reach, 
whether we are in possession of them or 
not ; either for not enjoying them or for 
not using them at all. Every one in this 
land, in a certain sense, is placed in a vine- 
yard, in a very fruitful hill. The owner 
has dug and enriched it, and planted 
and moistened with showers, and he de- 
mands fruit. None of us liveth to our- 
selves. The manner of our life, and the 
manner of our death, influence others for 
weal or woe, for good or evil, for joy or 
grief, for time and eternity. How solemn 
this undeniable fact ! What shall we do 



HOLINESS GEMS. 139 

about it? What is best, and wisest, and 
safest? Most certain it is best, wisest, and 
safest to be up and doing for the best, with 
our might, what our hands find to do while 
it is yet day, for the night cometh, wherein 
none can work. 

Whatsoever you find to do, 

Be it understood, 
That with all your might pursue, 

If it is good. 

And there is so much need of so much 
good being done. No one need go amiss 
for it. It can be seen by every eye. Look 
at the fields, which is the world, ripe al- 
ready to the harvest. Dead ripe, and ripe 
dead; wasting, losing forever, for want of 
being garnered, and being enlisted in the 
way of safety and security. So few are 
living, and so many are dead and dying, 
that the living cannot keep the dying 
from death, or bring the dead to life. 
There is not a moment of time to lose, 
no time to compromise, or take ease, or 
tarry by the way, for a great eternity is at 
our door, a judgment is before us, God is 
above us, and we are rushing on, and many 
are going down. Our journey may be 
hastened but cannot be delayed, and souls 



140 METHODIST STANDARD 

are all around us without a ray of light. 
There is no place between the throne of 
God and the dust to which our bodies will 
crumble, where responsibility does not 
weigh upon us all — from God, from Na- 
ture, from every department of life, as all- 
surrounding and as constant as the press- 
ure of the natural atmosphere. The most 
important and solemn thought, perhaps, 
that any of us ever had, is our individual 
responsibility to God. And only if we 
have done our best will our sentence be: 
" Well done." — Original. 



The highest state of Christian experi- 
ence is so variously expressed in God's 
word that we need not cling with a death- 
grasp to any set phrase in speaking of it. 
It is called purity, perfection, perfect love, 
fullness of God, full assurance of faith, 
sanctification, holiness, etc. When Divine 
nature is received by faith to such an ex- 
tent, and in such a manner, as to exclude 
original depravity, or inbred sin, from the 
heart, and fill it with perfect love to God 
and man, then we are entirely holy or 
entirely sanctified. When the love of God 
is shed abroad in the heart at conversion, 



HOLINESS GEMS. 141 

then holiness begins. Holiness is per- 
fected or completed by an act of God's 
grace, received by faith, whereby the justi- 
fied or pardoned soul is made entirely 
pure. The Spirit bears witness to this 
purification as consciously to us as He 
ever did to our pardon or conversion. It 
is the incoming of the abiding Comforter, 
bringing His own light. As we need no 
lantern to see the sun rise, so we need no 
other witness of this fact than the Spirit, 
blessed be God. — Original. 



Sermon.— 1 Thess. v: 23. "The very 
God of peace sanctify ypu wholly." These 
are wonderful words. It would be difficult 
to say all that could and ought to be said in 
regard to them. This text, and the entire 
epistle, demand close examination. Carry- 
ing on this process, we find the text chosen, 
to be the very heart and kernel of the letter. 
It is the utterance of Paul the aged, a great 
apostle. It is the words of prayer, inspired 
prayer, inspired of God. The petition is 
for others, and not for himself. It is mani- 
festly for something they did not then pos- 
sess ; otherwise it would have been foolish- 
ness, rather than inspired prayer. It was 



142 METHODIST STANDARD 

for the Church of the Thessalonians to 
which he was writing, and which he says 
in chap. I, v. 1, "Is in God the Father, and 
the Lord Jesus Christ." A right good 
place to be. There could not be a better 
one. He says in v. 3 they had "work of 
faith," "labor of love," and "patience of 
hope." Eight good things to have. None 
could possess better things, and none but 
Christians could possess these.- They were 
at this time children of God, for Paul says 
in 4th v. they were elected of God ; that is 
to say, they were chosen of God ; and that 
was because God had been chosen of them. 
They themselves knew that they were saved 
by grace, because the Gospel came unto 
them, not in word only, but also in power, 
and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assur- 
ance, 5th v. They were converted without 
the shadow of a doubt, for they had become 
followers of the apostles and of the Lord; 
and were models and patterns for believers 
far and wide, as we see by the 6th and 7th 
vs. They were heralds of the Gospel, and 
sounded out to others the word of God, 
they had so blessedly received themselves. 
Their faith also towards God, was as good 
as converts were ever known to have, and 



HOLINESS GEMS. 143 

needed not one word of commendation from 
Paul, as it spoke for itself everywhere, and 
for the cause of God as well. See 8th v. 
Last of all, he tells us in the 9th and 10th 
vs. that these genuine Thessalonian con- 
verts (for such they were, indeed) were 
broken off from their idols, to serve the 
living and true God, and to wait for the 
coming of Christ from heaven. All this, and 
yet not wholly sanctified ! But that they 
might be soon, is what he is praying for 
in our text. They had reached the blessed- 
ness of the experience they now possessed, 
under his labors. He went to them in their 
darkness and heathenism, and left them en- 
joying the Christian religion. While absent 
he heard good tidings of their faith, charity, 
and steadfastness, —not backslidden in the 
least — and it stirred him up to write this 
letter, and to "pray exceedingly " that he 
might see their face again and be instru- 
mental under God, in "perfecting that 
which was lacking " in their already good 
and glorious faith. See chap. 3, vs. 6-10. 
Oh ! how surprised I was, the first time 
my eyes were opened, to see that an excel- 
lent faith in Christ, like theirs, lacked any- 
thing. Compare this last mentioned Scrip- 



144 METHODIST STANDARD 

ture with chap. 1, v. 8, of this same epis- 
tle. It shows most clearly that though they 
had real Christian f aith, and the most gen- 
nine faith of converts, yet it was not per- 
fect, and did not measure up to the faith 
standard of the wholly sanctified. This he 
desired and prayed for them to have. And 
so far from their haying to wait till the 
hour of death to receive it, he desired and 
expected them to reach it during his next 
ministerial visit, and that they might even 
then be "established unblamable in holi- 
ness." See chap. 3, v. 13. So it is not, 
as some suppose, that only those who have 
had a rather poor conversion (so called) 
need to be sanctified wholly ; but all who 
have been converted at all, even the very 
best. I want you to mark well the fact, 
that Paul knew no better than to expect, 
and teach these converts, that they could 
come to that standard of perfection during 
one of his ministerial visits to them, and 
he had no idea of locating among them, 
or going into the real estate or insurance 
business, in their celebrated city, either. 
Not a bit of it. Well, blessed be God ! 
In the next place, in chap. 4, he tells them 
as plainly as can be written, what is lack- 



HOLINESS GEMS. 145 

ing in their faith, and when obtained, how 
fully it would supply their every spiritual 
need : "For this is the will of God, even 
your sanctification." " For God hath not 
called us unto uncleanness, but unto holi- 
ness." " That ye may have lack of nothing." 
See vs. 3, 7, and 12. For this he heartily 
prays : " The very God of peace sanctify 
you wholly." As if he would say : Being 
now partially sanctified of God as converts, 
having become as little children, being 
cleansed back to the exact moral condi- 
tion of children, being justified by faith, 
and having peace with God through our 
Lord Jesus Christ ; may the very same 
God who gave you that peace, or the true 
and living God who is the author of peace, 
now "sanctify you wholly," or entirely, 
which means precisely the same. Now the 
word sanctify has two important meanings, 
as follows : Our own voluntary setting apart 
of ourselves to the service of God; — i.e., 
Christian devotement, or consecration, 
purely the unreserved act of no other be- 
ing but a believing converted soul ; and 
the cleansing acceptance of the sacrifice, 
so offered, by an act of God's grace, that 
makes the believer holy. Two processes 



146 METHODIST STANDARD 

of the believer's soul is an indispensable 
necessity in obtaining the second blessing, 
properly speaking, that is indicated in this 
prayer, namely : the consecration before 
mentioned, and the implicit faith which 
takes God at His word, and says : the en- 
tire cleansing of my heart he now performs; 
and simultaneously with such faith God 
does cleanse, as quick as lightning's flash, 
according to the working of His own heav- 
enly telegraph, and emphatically because 
of the faith He has promised thus to meet, 
to honor, to answer, and to bless. It is by 
faith. We are sanctified by faith as truly 
;as we are justified by faith, i.e., by faith, 
?as the conditional cause, but not as the 
justifying agent, of course. 

1 Faith, mighty faith the promise sees, 

And looks to that alone ; 
Laughs at impossibilities 

And cries, " It shall be done! " 

2 Obedient faith, that waits on thee, 

Thou never wilt reprove; 
But thou wilt form thy Son in me, 
And perfect me in love. 

When this work is accomplished in the 
soul, it is purely God's work. We comply 
with His conditions ; He performs the 



HOLINESS GEMS. 147 

cleansing. Our Church catechism puts it: 
" An act of Divine grace, whereby believ- 
ers are made holy." It is thorough and 
complete purity of the whole being, through 
and through, spirit, soul, and body, and is 
God's design that it so abide till the 
coming of Christ, till death; and forever. 
"Faithful is He that calleth you" (to holi- 
ness), "who also will do it" (sanctify you 
wholly, make you every whit whole, the 
first chance He gets). The question, then, 
does not touch God's ability or willingness. 
It is not a question at all of that kind. 
No, verily; it is this: 

If we'll only come at his blessed call, 
And low at his feet believingly fall, 
And give but his grace its own loving way, 
This wonderful work will make no delay. 

Oh, glory to God in the highest ! How 
blessed it is to the soul that acts in this 
matter as in other matters! 

A man, called in court by an officer, was 
pushing through the crowd the best he 
could, when some one said, "What are 
you pushing so for?" "I am called," 
said he. Instantly they all made way for 
him to pass. If Christians would thus re- 
gard God's call to holiness, and thus start 



148 METHODIST STANDARD 

for it, everything and everybody before 
them and around them, and devils, and 
doubts, and fears, would get out of the 
way; yea more, even make a way for them, 
and the great transaction be settled at 
once. 

Now, when may true believers be thus 
wholly sanctified ? I answer, most cer- 
tainly just now. Provision is made. All 
power in heaven and earth is given to 
Christ. All things are now ready. All 
grace is now offered, and abounds. The 
Holy Spirit is now given. All agencies 
are at hand, and are equal to the work. 
The blood of Christ avails. The call of 
His word is given: " Come, for all things 
are now ready. " We can now meet the 
conditions. And, understanding all of this, 
a Christian can no longer stand at a dis- 
tance without guilt. — By Author of this 
Collection. 

Shall I, for fear of feeble man, 
The Spirit's course in me restrain ; 
Or, undismayed in deed or word, 
Be a true witness for my Lord? 



Then Jesus spoke: " Bring here thy burden, 
And find in me a full release ; 



HOLINESS GEMS. 149 

Bring all thy sorrows, all thy longings, 

And take instead my perfect peace. 
Trying to bear thy cross alone, 
Child, the mistake is all thine own. " 

Anna Warner. 

These three from Eev. Sam Jones : 
" The beginning of a holy life is a clean 
heart. " 

" There is a good deal in catchin' a 
fellow where he needs love, and pourin' it 
on him." 

" God called the old Methodist Church 
out of the gang, and put the word ' Holi- 
ness ' in its mouth, and wherever you see 
an old Methodist church that hasn't got 
holiness, you'll know she's gone back with 
the gang." 

"And Pour Contempt on all My Pride." 

— Chr. Std. — The life and death of our 
Lord Jesus Christ are a standing rebuke 
to every form of pride to which men are 
liable. Take, for instance: 

Pride of birth and rank. — "Is not this 
the carpenter's son ?" 

Pride of wealth. — " The Son of man 
hath not where to lay His head." 

Pride of respectability. — " Can any good 



150 METHODIST STANDARD 

thing come out of Nazareth ?" " He shall 
be called a Nazarene." 

Pride of personal appearance. — "He 
hath no form nor comeliness." 

Pride of reputation. — "Behold, a man 
gluttonous and a winebibber, a friend of 
publicans and sinners." 

Pride of independence. — " Many others, 
who ministered to Him of their sub- 
stance." 

Pride of learning. — " How knoweth this 
man letters, having never learned ? " 

Pride of superiority. — " I am among you 
as he that serveth." " He humbled Him- 
self." "Made a curse for us." 

Pride of success. — "He came unto His 
own, and His own received Him not." 
"Neither did His brethren believe on 
Him." "He was despised and rejected 
of men." 

Pride of self-reliance. — " He went down 
to Nazareth, and was subject unto them." 

Pride of ability. — "I can, of mine own 
self, do nothing." 

Pride of self-will. — "I seek not mine 
own will, but the will of Him that sent me." 

Pride of intellect. — " As my Father hath 
taught me, I speak these things." 



HOLINESS GEMS. 151 

Pride of bigotry. — "Forbid him not; 
for be that is not against us is on our 
part." 

Pride of resentment. — "Father, forgive 
them, for they know not what they do." 
"Friend, wherefore art thou come ?" 

Pride of reserve. — "My soul is exceed- 
ing sorrowful, even unto death* Tarry ye 
here and watch with me." "The Son of 
man must suffer many things, and be re- 
jected." 

Pride of sanctity. — " This man receiveth 
sinners, and eateth with them." 



Sanctiflcation is a means to an end. 
It means work. It means that he who 
enjoys it shall work. It means he shall 
stir up those about him to work. It is 
not a rest in the sense of countenancing, 
encouraging, or producing indifference 
or idleness. Witness 2 Chron. xxxv : 6 : 
"Sanctify yourselves, and prepare your 
brethren, that they may do according to 
the word of the Lord." Some persons 
never amount to much in the way of real 
aggressive work, and in the way of prepar- 
ing others to work, till they are thoroughly 
sanctified. Some who have never done 



152 METHODIST STANDARD 

much more than hunt up their own evi- 
dences, and assure themselves of their own 
personal justification and salvation, become 
a great power for good when entirely sanc- 
tified. Some who have hung like dead 
weights on the Church have, under this 
power, suddenly and enthusiastically and 
effectively abided their strength to push on 
the Gospel car. Some, whose remaining 
carnality has made them like quarrelsome 
and balky horses, have, when it was once 
removed, bent all their weight in stretch- 
ing the traces to help draw the load. 
Some, who have been nursed, and petted, 
and encouraged, and coaxed to the plain- 
est and commonest duties, have become 
organizers and preparers and inspirers of 
their brethren. 

The holiness that does not prepare itself 
and its brethren to do the work of the 
Lord is spurious. The sanctification whose 
chief idea is "resting" is of no account in 
a busy church and a busy world. The 
sanctification that always needs so much 
to prepare it for effective service, has 
nothing in common with vigorous and 
ever-diligent Bible-holiness. True holi- 
ness moves a layman to set the priests in 



HOLINESS GEMS. 153 

their charges, and to encourage them 
(v. 2). True holiness moves the preach- 
ers to sanctify themselves, and then to 
prepare their brethren (ministerial and 
lay) to do according to the word of the 
Lord (v. 6). 

Mark you, exactly what kind of doing 
results from sanctification. It is doing 
according to the ivord of the Lord. There 
may be a busy idleness that passes for 
Church work. There may be a doing ac- 
cording to the word of the Church, or 
according to the word of the world, that 
may pass for religious work. Dreadfully 
bad doings are sometimes going on under 
the name of religion. But the only kind 
of doing that legitimately springs from 
sanctification is doing according to the 
word of the Lord. 

And now, think of it! If the whole 
Church, to the very last man and woman 
and child, were to become so sanctified 
that they would do nothing contrary to 
the word of the Lord, but everything in 
the strictest harmony therewith, what a 
radical revolution in a vast deal that is 
called Church work would take place. 
What would become of the jollifications, 



154 METHODIST STANDARD 

and the "donkey socials/' and the "crazy" 
carousals, and the many hardly-worth- 
naming ways of raising money for all sorts 
of religious purposes? What hosts of peo- 
ple, who are now officiating as the leading 
members, would find their occupation 
gone ! What dignified and dressy dames, 
who decorate our fairs and festivals and 
foolishness of all kinds, would find them- 
selves standing idle at the eleventh hour 
in the Lord's vineyard! How many boards 
of trustees would find themselves weighed 
in the ba]ances with their well-filled treas- 
uries of ill-gotten gains — and be found 
wanting! 

And how many obscure little ones, who 
have been running on God's errands, and 
doing what they could for the Master, 
would, come to the front as Christ's moth- 
ers and brothers and sisters, who do the 
will of His Father in heaven! What rare 
specimens of spiritual discernment, what 
amazing instances of Divine guidance, 
what dazzling jewels of pure and living 
love and light, would suddenly be devel- 
oped in the most unlikely surroundings— 

Little and unknown, 

Loved and prized by Grod alone. 



HOLINESS GEMS. 155 

And what reforms would real sanctifi- 
cation produce in Church worship ! All 
things would be transfigured after the pat- 
tern shown in the Mount. Everything 
would centre around Christ. £i No man 
any more save Jesus only." Spiritual 
people would worship God, who is a spirit, 
in the spirit and in the beauty of heart 
holiness. Pulpit and pew, preachers and 
laymen, royal and plebeian, would vie with 
each other in sanctifying themselves, and 
in preparing their brethren no longer to 
worship God after the vain traditions and 
commandments of men, but to worship as 
well as work according to the word of the 
Lord. 

When shall it once be ? When shall we 
stop short in our mad frenzy to do accord- 
ing to man's word ? When shall we come 
to reason and religion ? When shall form 
and power become practically one ? When 
shall ceremony and sprituality blend ? 
When shall we be sanctified into sincere 
harmony with God's will and word in all 
things ?— Chr. Std. 



ye successful evangelists ! ye mas- 
ters of the skillful ways of doing things ! 



156 METHODIST STAKDAKD 

ye manipulators of methods ! ye 
preachers of the same old stock revival 
sermons ! ye who are praised far and 
wide ! ye whose services are in such 
great demand ! ye who are sometimes 
tempted to think that ye can do the work 
of an evangelist about as well, if not a 
little better, than most others ! What 
miserable failures would ye all be if the 
Lord did not open the hearts of the tender 
Lydias and of the rough jailers ! (Acts xvi : 
14.) The people would not give you the 
slightest attention, in spite of all your gifts 
and graces, and past usefulness, and supe- 
rior ways of doing things, if the Lord did 
not open their hearts. Don't say, "To 
God be all the glory," unless you really 
mean it from the very bottom of your 
souls, and to the utmost edge of that hack- 
neyed bridge over self-conceit and self- 
praise. Can ye bear to have the Lord open 
your own minds and consciences and hearts 
to the real truth of how people are saved ? 
—Ghr. Std. 

All my disease, my every sin, 
To thee, Jesus, I confess ; 

In pardon, Lord, my cure begin, 
And perfect it in holiness. 

Charles Wesley. 



HOLINESS GEMS. 157 

Is there a thing beneath the sun, 
That strives with me my heart to share ? 

Ah ! tear it thence, and reign alone 
The Lord of every motion there ! 

Wesley. 



grant that nothing in my soul 
May dwell, but thy pure love alone ! 

may thy love possess me whole, 
My joy, my treasure, and my crown ! 

Strange fires far from my heart remove ; 

My every act, word, thought, be love ! 



If we have little grace, we shall do but 
little good ; but if we are filled with all the 
fullness of God, we shall exert a vast influ- 
ence upon the interests of men. — Dr. Peck. 



Turn the full stream of nature's tide ; 

Let all our actions tend 
To thee, their source ; thy love the guide, 

Thy glory be the end. 

Earth then a scale to heaven shall be ; 

Sense shall point out the road ; 
The creature all shall lead to thee, 

And all we taste be Grod. 



Lord, arm me with thy Spirit's might, 
Since I am called by thy great name 



158 METHODIST STANDARD 

In thee my wandering thoughts unite, 

Of all my works be thou the aim : 

Thy love attend me all my days. 

And my sole business be thy praise. 

Wesley. 

Eager for thee I ask and pant, 
So strong the principle divine, 

Carries me out with sweet constraint, 
Till all my hallow'd soul be thine ; 

Plunged in the Godhead's deepest sea, 

And lost in thine immensity ! 



Heayexly Adam, life divine, 

Change my nature into thine ; 

Move and spread throughout my soul, 

Actuate and fill the whole. 

Wesley. 



Wesley's Definition of a Methodist. — "A 

Methodist is one who loves the Lord his 
God with all his heart, with all his soul, 
with all his mind, and with all his strength. 
God is the joy of his heart and the desire 
of his soul, which is continually crying : 
' Whom have I in heaven but thee ? and 
there is none upon earth whom I desire but 
thee/ My God and my all ! Thou art 
the strength of my heart and my portion 
forever. He is therefore happy in God ; 



HOLINESS GEMS. 159 

yea, always happy, as having in him a well 
of water springing up unto everlasting life, 
and overflowing his soul with peace and 
joy. Perfect love having now cast out 
fear, he rejoices evermore. Yea, his joy 
is full, and all his bones cry out, ' Blessed 
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus 
Christ, who, according to His abundant 
mercy, hath begotten me again unto a 
living hope of an inheritance incorrupt- 
ible and undefiled, reserved in heaven 
for me/ 

" And he who hath this hope, thus full 
of immortality, in everything giveth thanks, 
as knowing this (whatsoever it is) is the 
will of God in Christ Jesus concerning him. 
From Him therefore he cheerfully receives 
all, saying, e Good is the will of the Lord ; ? 
and whether He giveth or taketh away, 
equally blessing the name of the Lord. 
Whether in ease or pain, whether in sick- 
ness or health, whether in life or death, 
he giveth thanks from the ground of the 
heart, to Him who orders it for good ; into 
whose hands he hath wholly committed his 
body and soul, ' as into the hands of a faith- 
ful Creator/ He is therefore anxiously 
'careful for nothing/ as having 'cast all 



160 METHODIST STANDARD 

his care on Him that careth for him ; 9 and 
' in all things ' resting on Him, after 
' making 9 his ' request known to Him with 
thanksgiving/ For indeed he 'prays with- 
out ceasing ; 9 at all times the language of 
his heart is this : ' Unto Thee is my mouth, 
though without a voice ; and my silence 
speaketh unto Thee/ His heart is lifted 
up to God at all times, and in all places. In 
this he is never hindered, much less inter- 
rupted, by any person or thing. In retire- 
ment or company, in leisure, business, or 
conversation, his heart is ever with the 
Lord. Whether he lie down or rise up, 
God is in all his thoughts ; he walks with 
God continually, having the loving eye of 
his soul fixed on Him and everywhere see- 
ing Him that is invisible. And loving God, 
he 'loves his neighbor as himself;' he 
loves every man as his own soul. He loves 
his enemies, yea, and the enemies of God. 
And if it be not in his power to do good to 
them that hate him, yet he ceases not to 
pray for them though they spurn his love 
and still despitefully use him and persecute 
him. For he is 'pure in heart/ Love has 
purified his heart from every malice, wrath, 
and every unkind temper. It has cleansed 



HOLINESS GEMS. 161 

him from pride, f wherof only cometh con- 
tention ; ' and lie hath now ' put on bowels 
of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, 
meekness, long suffering/ And indeed all 
possible ground for contention, on his part, 
is cut off. For none can take from him 
what he desires, seeing he ' loves not the 
world, nor any of the things of the world f 
but ' all his desire is unto God, and to the 
remembrance of His name/ 

" Agreeable to this his one desire, is the 
one design of his life ; namely, ' to do not 
his own will, but the will of Him that sent 
him/ His one intention at all times and in 
all places is, not to please himself, but Him 
whom his soul loveth. He hath a single 
eye ; and because his ' eye is single, his 
whole body is full of light. The whole is 
light, as when the bright shining of a can- 
dle doth enlighten a house/ God reigns 
alone ; all that is in the soul is ' holiness to 
the Lord/ There is not a motion in his 
heart but is according to His will. Every 
thought that arises points to Him, and is in 
'obedience to the law of Christ/ 

"And the tree is known by its fruits. 
For, as he loves God, so he c keeps His 
commandments j ' not only some, or most 



162 METHODIST STANDARD 

of them, but all, from the least to the 
greatest. He is not content to keep the 
whole law and offend in one point, but has 
in all points a conscience void of offense 
toward God and toward man. Whatever 
God has forbidden he avoids ; whatever 
God has enjoined he does. He runs the 
way of God's commandments now he hath 
set his heart at liberty. It is his glory and 
joy so to do ; it is his daily crown of re- 
joicing to do the will of God on earth, as 
it is done in heaven. All the command- 
ments of God he accordingly keeps, and 
that with all his might ; for his obedience 
is in proportion to his love, the source 
from whence it flows. And therefore lov- 
ing God with all his heart, he serves Him 
with all his strength ; he continually pre- 
sents his soul and body a living sacrifice, 
holy, acceptable to God ; entirely and with- 
out reserve, devoting himself, all he has, 
all he is, to His glory. All the talents he 
has he constantly employs according to his 
Master's will ; every power and faculty of 
his soul, every member of his body. By 
consequence, ' whatsoever he doeth it is 
all to the glory of God/ In all his em- 
ployments, of every kind, he not only aims 



HOLINESS GEMS. 163 

at this,, which is implied in having a single 
eye, but actually attains it ; his business 
and his refreshments, as well as his prayers, 
all serve to this great end. "Whether he ' sit 
in the house, or walk by the way/ whether 
he lie down, or rise up, he is promoting, 
in all he speaks or does, the one business 
of his life. Whether he put on his apparel, 
or labor, or eat and drink, or divert him- 
self from too wasting labor, it all tends 
to advance the glory of God, by peace and 
good will among men. His one invariable 
rule is this : ' Whatsoever ye do, in word 
or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord 
Jesus, giving thanks to God, even the 
Father, through Him/ 

" Xor do the customs of the world at all 
hinder his 'running the race which is set 
before him/ He cannot, therefore, 'lay up 
treasures upon earth/ any more than he 
can take fire into his bosom. He cannot 
speak evil of his neighbor, any more than 
he can lie either for God .or man. He can- 
not utter an unkind word of any one, for 
love keeps the door of his lips. He can- 
not ' speak idle words ; no corrupt conver- 
sation'' ever 'comes out of his mouth/ 
neither what is not 'good to the use of 



164 METHODIST STANDARD 

edifying/ not fit to 'minister grace to 
the hearers/ But 'whatsoever things are 
pure, whatsoever things are lovely, what- 
soever things are 9 justly ' of good report/ 
he thinks, speaks, and acts, ' adorning 
the doctrine of God our Saviour in all 
things . ' " 

The cleansing wave, 

1 Oh, now I see the crimson wave! 

The fountain deep and wide ; 
Jesus, my Lord, mighty to save, 
Points to his wounded side. 

Chorus. 
The cleansing stream I see, I see ! 

I plunge, and oh, it cleanseth me ! 
Oh, praise the Lord ! it cleanseth me; 

It cleanseth me — yes, cleanseth me, 

2 I rise to walk in heaven's own light, 

Above the world and sin, 
With heart made pure and garments white, 
And Christ enthroned within. 

3 Amazing grace ! 'tis heaven below 

To feel the blood applied ; 

And Jesus, only Jesus, know, 

My Jesus crucified. 

Selected. 



Preach Holiness. — A Methodist preacher 
is not consistent unless he preaches the 



HOLINESS GEMS. 165 

doctrine of entire sanctification (Christian 
purity), according to the teachings of the 
Bible, our Standards, our Discipline, and 
our Hymnal, as well. These four are in har- 
mony, and do most beautifully teach, to 
the glory of God, that this is a distinct 
blessing, to be received instantaneously by 
faith, subsequent to conversion. That it 
is the destruction of inbred sin, or inher- 
ited depravity, making the heart pure, 
and producing perfect love. That it is 
receivable whenever the believer makes an 
entire consecration or sacrifice of himself 
to all the will of God, and then looks away 
by faith to the all-cleansing blood. A 
Methodist preacher out of harmony with 
this is out of harmony with the Methodist 
Episcopal Church. — Original. 



The Christian Index gives its readers 
the following Scriptural sum in addi- 
tion, which will require care, diligence, 
and time to ivork out : 

Add to your faith, virtue ; 

And to virtue, knowledge; 

And to knowledge, temperance ; 

And to temperance, patience ; 

And to patience, godliness ; 



166 METHODIST STANDARD 

And to godliness, brotherly kindness ; 
And to brotherly kindness, charity. 

THE ANSWER. 

For if these things be in you and 
abound, they make you that ye shall 
neither be barren nor unfruitful in the 
knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. — 
2 Peter i : 5, 8. God help us ! 



Honor the Lord with thy substance. — 
Solomon. 

The Man of Faith.— The Man of Faith 
is a liberal man. Nothing short of an 
entire surrender of all we are and have to 
God is acceptable to Him. It is related in 
Eoman history that, when the people of 
Collatia stipulated about their surrender 
to the authority and protection of Eome, 
the question asked was, "Do you deliver 
up yourselves, the Collatine people, your 
city, your fields, your water, your bounds, 
your temples, your utensils, all things 
that are yours, both human and Divine, 
into the hands of the people of Eome ? " 
And on their replying, "We deliver up 
all" they were received. 



HOLINESS GEMS. 167 

The Man of Faith feels his surrender to 
be equally comprehensive. He feels that 
his employment, whether it be agricul- 
ture, merchandise, medicine, law, or any- 
thing else, is of no value any further than 
it is connected with the Kedeemer's king- 
dom; that wealth is trash, and life a trifle, 
except as they may be used to advance the 
cause of Christ; and that so far as they 
may be used for this purpose, they are 
of immense value. 

To be a faithful steward of God's prop- 
erty requires, perhaps, more grace than to 
be a faithful steward of God's truth. We 
find many a faithful preacher of the Gos- 
pel where we find one ISTormand Smith or 
Amos Lawrence. The grace needed is so 
great, and the temptations to err so many, 
that almost all prove defaulters, and there- 
fore it is that the world lies in ruins, not 
because the Church has not wealth enough, 
but because God's stewards claim to be 
owners. 

How small the sum appropriated by a 
million and a half of God's stewards to 
save a sinking world. The price of earthly 
ambition, convenience, and pleasure is 
counted by millions. Navies and armies 



168 METHODIST STAKDARD 

have their millions: railroads and oar. 
have their millions: colleges and schools 

have their millions : silks, carpets, and 
mirrors have their millions : parties of 
pleasure and licentiousness in high life 
have their millions: and what has the 
treasury of God and the Lamb to redeem 
men from sin and make them acquainted 
with the way to holiness and heaven ? — 
Nevins* 

Statement of Doctrine. — 1. REPEKT- 

a.nck. — This consists in an tin feigned sor- 
row for our sins, ami a sincere confession 
and forsaking thereof, and turning to God 
with works meet for repentance, embrac- 
ing the forgiveness o( our enemies and 
restitution up to our ability — " making 
straight paths for our feet." 

3, Con vt-.KSiON. — This consists in jus- 
tification, which is the forgiveness o( 
actual sins, and the accounting us right- 
ecus through the merit o( Christ : and 
regeneration, which is a new birth o( the 
soul by the Holy Ghost, iti which all 
the acquired corruption of our past 
sinful life is removed, and the new life 
implanted. It is received by faith in 



HOLIKESS GEMS, 169 

Christ, and is attested by the Holy Spirit: 
and while continuing in this regenerated 

state we do nor commit sin. 
3, Entire Sakctificatiok, — This is 

that work of the Holy Ghost by which the 
hereditary body of sin. or inherent deprav- 
ity, is removed from the heart, making it 
pure. This entire cleansing does not take 
plaee at regeneration; it does not consist 
in the repressing of indwelling sin; it does 
not consist in the imputation of Christ's 
personal holiness to us; but it is wrought 
by the Holy Ghost through faith in the 
blood of Christ, and is receivable at any 
moment when the believer makes an entire 
consecration or sacrifice of himself to all 
the will of God : and is attested by the 
Holy Spirit, who produces in the heart 
perfect love. 

Entire sanctification does not free us 
from manifold temptations and manifold 
errors of judgment and infirmities; nor 
does it exempt us from the possibility of 
sinning. Although there is no further 
cleansing while in possession of this bless- 
ing, vet there is a constant growth in all 
the fruits and graces of the Spirit; and the 
perfect believer must give all diligence to 



170 METHODIST STANDARD 

increase in all the mind of Christ, and in 
the fullness of love to his neighbor, and 
by a life of obedience to all the commands 
of God, thus making his " calling and elec- 
tion sure." — Address of Holiness Conven- 
tion. 

Do You Want It? — Say, do you want 
the blessing of Perfect Love ? — do you 
really want it ? You have heard about 
it, and very likely have some desire for it; 
but such things do not save. Many a ship 
goes down in sight of land. But do you 
feel the necessity of Perfected Holiness, 
and see such a beauty in it, as to stamp 
your soul with thorough desire ? Answer 
this question at the bar of your own con- 
science, and to your God. 

If "Yes," then make a business of the 
matter. Study the Word of God, with 
special reference to Entire Sanctification ; 
seek the counsels of the purified, in person 
or in their writings ; look to the Lord for 
results. If your soul has been skimming 
over the surface of things, and playing 
with the streams of life, without a sure 
knowledge of sins forgiven, you must first 
give up every sin,, and get justifying grace. 



HOLINESS GEMS. 171 

Then only are you ready to go forward in 
holiness. Then double up your determi- 
nation into sharpness and strength. Show 
that you mean to have a Pure Heart. 

You may or may not do this in forms 
that are visible to men, but be willing to 
do it in any of those ways that are pleasing 
to God. Show Him that you intend the 
needed thing shall be done, and no mis- 
take about it. " The kingdom of heaven 
sufferetk violence, and the violent take it 
by force. Yes, they take it ; they take it 
by that absoluteness of effort which brings 
the soul with supreme passiveness into the 
hands of Jesus. Pause a moment just 
here. We mean that you are under the 
necessity of yielding up the " easily be- 
setting sin," and of submitting to the Lord 
the known and the unknown, and at every 
point where an issue is raised against you. 
Sincerity in consecration is not enough — 
the heathen are often sincere in their wor- 
ship. But let the Holy Ghost search you; 
then "die out" to sin in deepest purpose, 
until the Spirit indicates a perfect sur- 
render. So shallowness will be prevented, 
and the road to Perfect Cleansing opened 
wide. Then the loving Saviour can work; 



172 METHODIST STANDARD 

then, and not a moment before, can He 
apply His precious Blood to your Entire 
Moral Purification. Only believe — only 
believe that He doeth it — -just now doeth it. 
At such a moment He Sanctifies Wholly, 
gives Perfect Best, and ^Perfect Love. — 
Harvester >Tracts. 



Wickedness is tremendously on the in- 
crease. The optimists can't see the faint- 
est streaks of millennial dawn yet. There 
is a fearful decrease in church-going in all 
the cities of the nation. So the figures 
prove. And this decrease of church-going 
signifies increase of pleasure-seeking, Sab- 
bath-breaking, street-profanity, saloon-vis- 
iting, and dissipation. It is hardly pos- 
sible that anything can turn backward this 
onflowing tide that is sweeping down to 
perdition, except the sore judgments of 
God. It is a time for Christians to humble 
themselves before God, and pray and work 
for the rescue of souls. — Selected. 



Sin is waxing bolder and bolder. It 
opens its shops, and offices, and places of 
business, and haunts of amusement on 
Sabbath without a blush. It utters its 



HOLINESS GEMS. 173 

horrid oaths on the street without a stint 
and without shame. It decoys, it bribes, 
it waylays, it robs, it steals, it lies, it 
drinks, it revels, it murders, it corrupts, 
it seduces, it ruins, it damns. Never was 
such a carnival of wickedness. And it 
goes on all the year round. "Evil men 
and seducers wax worse and worse." The 
generation that was swept from the face of 
the earth by the avenging flood in the 
days of Noah could hardly have been 
more abandonedly wicked. Should not 
the Lord visit for these things ? He surely 
will, if there be not repentance. — Selected. 



It is not difficult to account for the 
heaven-defying wickedness of the times. 
Inside the churches there is a fearful 
waning of godly principle and godly life. 
In most of them the matter of Bible holi- 
ness is ignored, in many of them derided 
and persecuted. Nearly all church pastors 
discourage, many of them forbid, all Chris- 
tian testimony that directly or explicitly 
relates to personal holiness. While holi- 
ness is kept out of the churches, worldli- 
ness is brought in. While humble and 
pure-lived Christians who are in the 



174 METHODIST STANDAKD 

churches are derided and denounced for 
their piety, proud and carnal-minded pro- 
fessors are petted and made popular. Ke- 
ligion has become so much a mere formality 
among professors and is so intermingled 
with the folly and sin of the world, that 
common sinners have well-nigh lost all 
reverence for the Church, and many of 
them have an unspeakable disgust for the 
frigid and formal worship that is statedly 
performed therein on the Lord's day. The 
average sinner is too sensible to be duped 
by a sort of piety that seeks to advance its 
reputation by consorting with the wicked 
world, and that seems driven to the neces- 
sity of maintaining its very existence by 
a resort to godless festivals and graceless 
games. The Bible speaks somewhat of 
"old paths." The Church had better get 
back to them. — Brooks. 



Some Time We Shall Love Holiness. — 

Deep, abiding spirituality is not appre- 
ciated as it should be, even in the Church 
of God. A man who is honestly endeav- 
oring to live on a high spiritual plane is 
not encouraged as he ought to be by pro- 
fessing Christians. Ministers who are 



HOLINESS GEMS. 175 

earnestly devoted to the prayerful study 
of the Bible, secret prayer, and the cul- 
ture of their spiritual faculties, realize 
that such a life is very peculiar, if not 
socially isolated and lonely. Every relig- 
ious person feels at times a prompting to 
holier living. It may come in the prayer- 
meeting, the public service, or the quiet, 
retired life. A sermon may cause it, an 
exhortation, the conversation of a friend, 
or the secret desires of the soul, but it 
comes. Those who yield to it, and con- 
form their lives to a new spiritual regime, 
carefully and conscientiously undertaking 
to know more of Christ, more of His love, 
more of His abiding presence, more of the 
Spirit's guidance, more of the solid com- 
fort of genuine consecration, more of the 
joy of perfect cleansing, more of every- 
thing that distinguishes the saint from the 
sinner, the sanctified from the unwashed, 
find only a few to intelligently and cordi- 
ally sympathize and render aid. As soon 
as a professor of religion begins a more 
zealous and consistent life, he finds people 
to criticise his motive, question his sincer- 
ity, and doubt his attainments. Good men 
have died trying to show a pattern of god- 



176 METHODIST STANDARD 

liness, and were acknowledged good only 
when dead. The human heart is very 
evil, harsh in its judgments, uncharitable 
in its spirit. Grace will help us, but few, 
so few, accept the grace. The time will 
come when this state of things will be im- 
proved. Earnest longing for ardent piety 
and exemplary conduct will be the rule, 
especially in Church, and worldliness and 
indifference will be the exception. Ke- 
ligion is the chief good, and holiness is 
the chief phase of religion. Without ho- 
liness no man shall see the Lord. We 
shall all realize this truth some time. We 
shall love the name and thought and power 
of purity, and shall follow after them more 
zealously than we do now. Speed the day. 
— Michigan Christian Advocate. . 



More about Jesus. 

1 More about Jesus would I know, 
More of his grace to others show, 
More of his saving fullness see, 
More of his love who died for me. 

Cho. — More, more about Jesus, 
More, more about Jesus ; 
More of his saving fullness see, 
More of his love who died for me. 



HOLINESS GEMS. 177 

2 More about Jesus let me learn, 
More of his holy will discern ; 
Spirit of God, my teacher be, 
Showing the things of Christ to me. 

3 More about Jesus in his word, 
Holding communion with my Lord ; 
Hearing his voice in every line, 
Making each faithful saying mine, 

4 More about Jesus on his throne, 
Riches in glory all his own ; 

More of his kingdom's sure increase; 
More of his coming, Prince of Peace. 

From Guide. 



Tell About It. — Men are saved by word 
and example. One drives the nail, while 
the other clinches it. To withhold expe- 
rience is to hide the gift which G-od designs 
for the enlightenment and purifying of 
the world. Many a blessing is lost because 
it is not confessed. It grows impalpable 
in the darkness, and hides itself from us, 
as we have hidden it from others. 

Then tell your experience. Tell it to 
your next-door neighbor, to the Church, 
to the world. Tell the perishing what 
Jesus has done for your soul. Has He 
given you converting grace, tell of that. 
Has He sanctified you wholly ; then tell of 



178 METHODIST STANDARD 

that. Tell how sweetly He saves you, how 
completely He keeps you, and with what 
hope He carries you onward. Speak of 
" His loving-kindness, oh, how great!" 

There is a prudence about confession, 
but we will not dilate on that now. If 
the Lord has swept through your soul 
with the breezes of His love, and purified 
it, and adorned it with the graces of His 
Spirit, surely you are fitted for some 
humble place from which to herald His 
glory. — Selected. 

A hymn for the pure in heart. 
Tune—" What a friend we have in Jesus." 

1 'Twas the precious blood of Jesus 

Brought my far-off spirit nigh, Eph. ii: 13. 
Can I doubt the power of Jesus, Matt, xxviii : 18. 

All my soul to sanctify? 1 Thess. v: 23. 

I can hear him on me calling 1 Thess. iv : 7. 

All his perfect will to prove, Eom. xii : 2. 

Surely he can keep from falling, Jude 24. 

Make me perfect in his love. 1 John iv : 18. 

2 Thou art true, and I will trust thee, 

Give thee all I have, and am; 
All the needed virtue must be Heb. ix: 13, 14. 

In the all-atoning Lamb. 
From the world and self I sever, 

By the power of grace Divine ; 
Here I rest, a gift forever, Matt, xxiii : 19. 

On this precious altar shrine. Heb. xiii: 1. 



HOLINESS GEMS. 179 

3 Oh, how could I doubt or falter, 

Touching now by simple faith; Acts xxiv: 18. 

Thro' the virtue of the altar, Ex. xxix : 37. 

All is holy, as he saith. [1 John i : 7. 
Here the cleansing blood flows o'er me, 

Perfected in love I am ; 1 John iv : 18. 

Perfect Saviour, I adore thee, Heb. vii : 25. 

Glory, glory to the Lamb. 

Mamie Payne. 



Walk About Zion.— The M. E. Church 
once prospered, and was doing grandly 
the work assigned it, and deeply made the 
impression that it was "raised up to re- 
form this continent, and spread Scriptural 
Holiness oyer these lands/' because it was 
doing that very thing with its divinely 
given power, and every other Church in 
the land received from it a fresh impetus 
to do the Lord's work with a mightier 
zeal and a more heavenly simplicity. But 
in the course of time its power began to 
wane, it became feeble, sickly, and "as a 
tottering fence or a bowing wall " ready to 
fall, because its genuine spirituality began 
to wane, and that by the very slightest 
compromises with the devil, and con- 
formity with the world, that ever could 
be imagined. When it was observed to be 



180 METHODIST STANDARD 

thus tottering and quailing before the 
enemy by those who loved our Zion (and 
nearly all did so then who really claimed 
to be religious), then the propping work 
began. Now the purpose of propping up 
and again making strong was good, but 
the choice that was made of material and 
the manner of its application were evil, 
and only evil, and that continually, and 
only helped on the disease it was intended 
to cure. The first thing attempted was 
doctoring the finance, and this was done 
by a further conformity to and courting 
of the favors of the irreligious world; and 
Church parties, sprees, suppers, festivals, 
lotteries, raffles, Sabbath concerts, theat- 
ricals, tableaux, pantomimes, dramas, kiss- 
ing parties, doll-baby shows, blind man's 
buff, bean-bag parties, grab bags, post- 
offices, fish-ponds, games and dancing, 
and ritualism, Church worship, and pas- 
time, and everything else that could be 
thought of or hatched up was set on foot, 
and it has gone from bad to worse, like the 
letting out of water ; and all this under 
Church sanction. This has brought in a 
tide of unconverted, and irreligious, and 
worldly Church members. The fashion, 



HOLINESS GEMS. 181 

the folly, the pride, and the outlandish 
monstrosities — bangs, bustles, and dead 
birds — and flowers, flounces, pompadours, 
gold, and pearls, and costly array that 
they brought in with them, and the 
amount the Church put on to coax them 
along, these are a curse and a shame to 
the name of Jesus and the cause of Meth- 
odism. The Methodist preacher swings a 
ring on his finger, a gold-headed cane in 
his hand, a gold watch-chain, or one that 
looks like it, to his watch, and his wife 
and daughters sit before him in the very 
height ' of flowers, flummery, and jewels 
artistically displayed, and all the fashion- 
ables and the Parisians are delighted, and 
will soon all join our Church, I suppose, 
and everything moves on gayly, and the 
preacher says smooth things, and all for 
fear of injuring the finances, especially 
his claim, and would not say a word 
about stealing, or robbing God, for fear, 
as the old colored brother said, of "pro- 
ducing a dampening effect." All this has 
been done, and is now being done, and far 
more, of which time would fail me to tell 
you: and yet the old ship is quivering and 
jostling to its fall, and still the people 



182 METHODIST STANDARD 

generally can't, or won't, see where the 
trouble is. 

. . . The trouble with the Church is in 
first letting Divine power decline out of 
the individual souls, and then bringing in 
these trappings of the devil as substitutes 
for what we had lost, which, instead of 
restoring what we had lost, only put a 
greater distance between the Church and 
the lost, almost entirely lost, treasure. 
While the Church, Gallio-like, is en- 
joying all these doubtful, dangerous, 
:and devilish amusements and entertain- 
ments, and are at ease in Zion, eight 
hundred millions of souls are rushing 
headlong to perdition, and as rapidly in 
our very midst as elsewhere, and the good 
things that do remain are ready to per- 
ish. We can turn and read of Paul's 
suffering, affliction, distresses, stripes, im- 
prisonments, tumults, labors, watching, 
fastings, long-sufferings, dishonor, evil re- 
port, unknown, dying, chastened, sorrow- 
ful, possessing nothing, in labors more 
abundant, in stripes above measure, pris- 
ons more frequent, in deaths oft, and 
Jesus, who had not where to lay His 
head. But in our day, and in our Church, 



HOLINESS GEMS. 183 

we read of and see the dancing disciples 
of the Lord Jesus Christ, and those who 
say it is just as innocent to play a game of 
cards as to read a chapter in the Bible, 
and those who would go to sleep early in 
the evening reading the Bible, but that a 
novel can easily keep wide awake till ten, 
or even later. Oh, how such souls need 
doctoring and disentangling ; how they 
need Christ, how they need salvation, how 
they need holiness! But if you want a 
bumble-bee in your bonnet, or a hornet's 
nest around your hat and ears, dare to 
speak to them about it, and your fanatical 
holiness zeal, or your true loyalty to God 
and the Church that you love, can be fully 
gratified, for they '11 come swarming. God 
help us! Good Lord deliver us! — Orig- 
inal. 

he Way Made Plain. — The simplicity 
and plainness of the way of salvation 
ought to be briefly and often pointed out. 
We read in Paul's second letter to the 
Thessalonians of "the mystery of iniq- 
uity/' that "doth already work," and in 
his first to Timothy that " great is the 
mystery of godliness." Again, the Lord 



184 METHODIST STANDAKD 

tells us, by the mouth of Samuel, that 
" He will teach us the good and the right 
way/' and again, by Isaiah, that "the 
wayfaring men, though fools, shall not 
err therein." Now, it clearly follows from 
the above, that it is not essential to com- 
prehend the depth of these mysteries in 
order to our being saved. 

The question then arises: "What doth 
the Lord require of thee," anxious soul? 
Answer: "To do justly, love mercy, and 
walk humbly with thy God," Micah vi:8. 
But before we can fill this requirement, 
we must "believe in the Lord Jesus 
Christ," as our own individual, pardoning 
Saviour. Before we can do this we must, 
absolutely must, sincerely, heartily, and 
unreservedly repent of all our sins. This 
includes the knowledge that I am now a 
sinner, a godly sorrow for my sins, confes- 
sion to God, abandoning of all sin, and 
restitution to the extent of my ability. 
When this is all unfeignedly done, it is 
not hard, in view of God's many and 
precious promises to forgive, for the sin- 
ner to really believe, " He now pardons 
me!" And as he does believe it, God 
then does that work, really and fully, and 



HOLINESS GEMS. 185 

will give peace to the soul. The soul will 
feel that, " although God was angry with 
me, His anger is now turned away," and 
instead of His anger, His Divine and 
heavenly face is now, like a father, full of 
love and compassion, beaming upon me 
with smiles of approval. Then it is likely 
the feeling, and it may be the words too, 
will swell up in the heart : Glory be to 
God for His condescending and forgiving 
nature ! Oh, how sinful I was, but how 
good and merciful He has been, and now 
is, to me! I will praise Him while on 
earth, and throughout eternity! 

When this is done, if you are faithful to 
the grace given, if you are unflinching in 
all duties, if you are unswerving in your 
allegiance and fidelity to God, the time 
will come when you will feel a lack, an 
incompleteness, a need of more grace and 
strength than you will then enjoy ; and 
that, notwithstanding your conscious peace 
and innocence in the sight of God, there 
is still a nature within that obstructs your 
rapid and onward growth in grace. This 
is the moving, not of guilt, but of inher- 
ited depravity. By this God is showing 
you the need of having a clean heart — 



186 METHODIST STAKDAKD 

one that is purged and sanctified for the 
Master's use. 

" A heart in every thought renewed, 
And full of love divine ; 
Perfect, and right, and pure, and good, 
A copy, Lord, of thine." 

But how to obtain this is now the ques- 
tion, and the answer is plain and easy, 
and no mystery, if you but diligently 
attend. Considering how great things 
God hath already done for you, and that 
He now designs you to put on the whole 
armor and panoply of His grace, present 
your entire self as a living sacrifice to God, 
with all your inventory of possessions, 
heartily to His will in a complete conse- 
cration. 

Now, if at this time you are serving 
God in truth with all your present powers, 
if you are walking in the light (of justifi- 
cation) as He is in the light (i. e., not 
committing a known sin, and not neglect- 
ing a known duty), "if you have" true 
"fellowship" with the brethren and sis- 
ters in Christ, then by faith claim and 
appropriate to your own soul this precious, 
golden promise: "The blood of Jesus 



HOLINESS GEMS. 187 

Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all sin." 
And as surely as you do so, "according 
as your faith is, so shall it be done unto 
you." Amen, and Amen. — Original. 



Personal Work. — On a cold winter 
evening I made my first call on a rich 
merchant in New York. As I left his 
door, and the piercing gale swept in, I 
said, "What an awful night for the 
poor ! " 

He went back, and bringing to me a 
roll of bank-bills, he said, "Please do me 
a fayor. Hand these bills to the poorest 
people that you know." 

After a few days I wrote to him the 
grateful thanks of the poor whom his 
bounty had relieved, and added, "How is 
it that a man so kind to his fellow-creat- 
ures, has always been so unkind to his 
Saviour as to refuse Him his heart ? " 

That sentence touched him to the core. 
He sent for me to come and talk with 
him, and speedily gave himself to Christ. 
He has been a most useful Christian ever 
since. But he told me that I was the first 
person who had talked to him about his 
soul in nearly twenty years. One hour of 



188 METHODIST STANDARD 

pastoral work did more for that man than 
the pulpit effort of a life-time. — Dr. T. L. 
Cuyler. 

I hate to live, yet am afraid to die. — 
Voltaire. 

Question. — Why is it that infidels often 
renounce their views when death calls 
for them, and Christians never hold theirs 
more firmly than then ? 



Siveet rest in Jesus. 
Tune—" Rest for the Weary." 

1 In a Saviour's love abiding 

There is found a blissful rest ; 

For the Lord has this provided, 

And fulfills the soul's request. 

Chorus. 
There is sweet rest in Jesus, 
There is sweet rest in Jesus, 
There is sweet rest in Jesus, 
There is rest for you. 

2 On this side death's rolling Jordan, 

In a present, full salvation, 
Where " 'tis heaven below " to love him, 
There is rest for you. 

Chorus. 



HOLINESS GEMS. 189 

3 Inbred sin is fully vanquished, 

Jesus bids it all depart ; 
With his fullness fills the spirit, 
Reigns triumphant in the heart. 

Chorus. 

4 Death itself has lost its terrors, 

Satan, too, is overcome; 
Shout for gladness, saints of Jesus, 
As you journey toward your home. 

Chorus. 



Shaking and Taking this World for 
Jesus. — " Give me a hundred men/' says 
Wesley, "who fear nothing but sin, and 
desire nothing but God, and I will shake 
the w r orld, and I care not a straw whether 
they be clergymen or laymen, and such 
alone will overthrow the kingdom of Satan 
and build up the kingdom of God on 
earth." He got his hundred men, and 
he shook the world w r ith an earthquake 
mightier than can be produced by a 
million of easy-going, nominal Christians, 
afraid of the Holy Ghost, and apologizing 
for their own distinctive doctrines. 

I wish I had power to reach every Meth- 
odist on the round earth. I would say: 
Cease living on the heroism of your fa- 
thers, quit glorying in numbers, sacrific- 



190 METHODIST STANDARD 

ing to statistics, and burning incense to 
the General Minutes. Down upon your 
knees, and seek and find for yourself the 
secret of the power of the fathers — a clean 
heart and the endowment of power from 
on high; then arise and unfurl the banner 
of salvation full and free, and a common- 
sense theology, the beauty of which, as 
Joseph Cook says, is "that it can be 
preached." Then, in double-quick time, 
charge upon the hosts of sin, and conquer 
the world for Christ. — Daniel Steele. 



Dr. Abel Stevens, in his "History of 
Methodism," says of the Methodists : 
" Their mission was not to form a relig- 
ious party, but to spread holiness over 
these lands. The doctrine of personal 
sanctification was, in fine, the great po- 
tential idea of Methodism." 



"While vou cannot touch one of God's 
stars, nor silence one of His winds, you 
can cruelly wound His heart, and utterly 
exclude Him from your thoughts. What 
can equal the emptiness and desolation 
of a heart from which God has been 
expelled ? — Christian Witness. 



HOLINESS GEMS. 191 

The Tobacco Habit. — The world con- 
stantly moves on. " There is much run- 
ning to and fro, and knowledge is be- 
ing increased." A nice, clean, temperate, 
religious, holiness generation is just on 
the eve of coming upon the scene of 
action on the earth. We must look this 
question square in the face. We had bet- 
ter know the truth now than later. It 
must be stated. The time now is when 
those who will attempt to live conscientious, 
religious lives, and yet use tobacco, must 
either abandon the habit, or manfully de- 
fend it as being harmless and innocent, if 
not virtuous. With the constant elevation 
of man, and the steady increase of light 
from science, the Word of God, and com- 
mon sense and respectful decency, this 
custom must go to the wall or prove itself 
to be a slandered good. This latter it 
cannot do. With an honest desire to help 
good people to see it in its proper light, 
and as public sentiment is beginning to 
regard it, we would briefly, and yet 
plainly, set the matter before them. It is 
an evil habit, for the following reasons: 
1. It injures the health and brain of the 
user, and the evil appetite is transmitted 



192 METHODIST STANDARD 

to his offspring. The highest medical au- 
thorities agree that cancer, insanity, and 
various fatal brain diseases, are brought 
on by it. Abolishing this tobacco habit 
would well-nigh banish consumption, ex- 
cept when caused by tight lacing, thin 
shoes, and such like, mostly, perhaps, 
among women. (These evils will also 
have to give way, by the progress of the 
race, in course of time.) 2. It accustoms 
one to disregard the comfort and well- 
being of others. Builds up selfishness. 
Is offensive to many. The fumes of cigar, 
and stench of the pool of ambier, are met 
everywhere — fireside, street, hotel, cars, 
counting-room, minister's study, church, 
pew, altar, and even in the sacred desk, 
often. No man, or set of men, have a 
moral right thus to discommode and dis- 
gust a large portion of their clean-breathed 
fellow-men. And then it is so enormously 
selfish. And how can this spirit grow so 
rank in this direction, and not stunt and 
blunt the person's own moral character in 
every other way ?, 3. It violates a man's 
own conscience. A large portion of the 
users say it does them no good, is a 
filthy habit, they ought to give it up, but 



HOLINESS GEMS. 193 

can't. What a confession! How very hu- 
miliating! Followed by no reform, it is 
sin crying aloud against the immortal 
soul. " Needless self-indulgence; " that 
is it. To practice what judgment and 
conscience condemn is unworthy the man- 
hood of men, and is perilous to the human 
soul. Conscience, so outraged in one way, 
must become yery unhealthy in every way. 
4. It is exercising the lower appetite at 
the expense of the higher nature. This 
reason would have no weight with some, 
but with those striving after a Christian 
living and a worthy manhood, it ought, 
and must, and will have weight. A thor- 
oughly strong and clean character cannot 
be steadfastly built up with even one rot- 
ten piece in the foundation. To use to- 
bacco, conscious of its nature, is giving 
the keys of the soul to an enemy. An 
old landmark, a safeguard to character, is 
gone, and no telling what other vice will 
creep in at the open flood-gate. The same 
arguments which serve to excuse one 
wrong will usually excuse others. To- 
bacco using tends to create a taste for 
strong drink, and the conscience having 
already yielded to this, is well prepared to 



194 METHODIST STANDARD 

yield to the drink habit when temptation 
comes. Self-indulgence at one point leads 
naturally, by easy descent, to self-indul- 
gence at many points. 5. It is a national, 
world-wide, and continual stumbling-block 
to the rising generation. By imitation 
they acquire a taste for the weed. Parents 
trying to prevent their children from the 
practice have often been met with the argu- 
ment that so-and-so, perhaps a preacher, 
uses tobacco. And precept, you know, 
can make no stand against example on the 
minds of the youthful lookers-on. 6. It 
cripples Christian efforts for usefulness, 
both in the ranks of ministers and lay- 
men. While one pleads with his fel- 
low to lead a pure life of self-control 
and self-denial, how can he touch the 
heart of the self- conceited, and self-re- 
specting, and worldling, if his words are 
uttered by lips dripping and saturated 
with filth, and carried to both ear and 
nostril by a breath loaded with the most 
complex and sickening of all odors ? 
However willing the heart might be to 
receive a profit by the message, the stom- 
ach would rebel. Those who thus act 
"teach, men so," — teach their own chil- 



HOLINESS GEMS. 195 

dren so — no matter how sound their creed. 
How can a voluntary bondman recommend 
liberty? How can a pare spirit abide in 
so unclean a body? 

Sweep on, oh, thou reform of cleanness, 
sweep on! Elevate the race to its right 
sphere in the scale of moral being. Amen. 
— Original. 

Author's Experience. — On the 25th day 
of January, 1853, in the city of Chester, 
Eandolph County, Illinois, by the strong, 
heart-stirring, and thrilling Gospel ap- 
peals of Eev. James Knapp, of Southern 
Illinois Conference, I was brought to a 
true sense of my need of Christ, and to 
the foot of the cross, where I believed my 
sins were forgiven. In my simplicity, I 
gave my heart to God through Christ, and 
became His child, as I sincerely believed. 
At that same time I also gave my hand and 
name to the preacher, and became identi- 
fied with God's people in the Methodist 
Episcopal Church. I felt then, and even 
before then, that I was called of God to 
preach the Gospel. I never gave up the 
cause of Christ, but was not faithful as 
I ought to have been, and my call to 



196 METHODIST STANDARD 

preach was not obeyed for twenty years or 
more. I made some advancement, and 
grew in grace, a little now and then, 
I thought ; and enjoyed many happy sea- 
sons, notwithstandinj^my dullness of hear- 
ing and my inattention to the heavenly 
impression. Many years after this I was 
appointed class-leader in Salem, Illinois. 
In the winter of 1871 and '72 we enjoyed a 
very gracious revival of religion. On the 
24th of June, 1872, I was licensed to 
preach in the Salem Quarterly Confer- 
ence, and was admitted to the traveling 
connection in the Southern Illinois An- 
nual Conference in the fall of that year, at 
Mt. Vernon, Illinois. I preached for eight 
years, believing and saying that I was 
every word a Methodist, through and 
through ; but in spite of this the truth in 
the case gradually unfolded itself to me, 
that I did not clearly understand nor 
heartily believe, much less enjoy or ex- 
perience, the highest blessedness to which 
the grand peculiarities of Methodist teach- 
ing pointed me, and that is salvation from 
all sin by a second and distinct blessing of 
God by faith after conversion. I had 
been preaching holiness, or Christian per- 



HOLINESS GEMS. 197 

fection, to others in an indefinite way, 
and living without it myself, and very 
quietly allowing them to do the same. I 
had just about as much success in this as 
an unconverted preacher would have, in 
getting souls converted to God. I could 
not point out the way for others to obtain 
the experience. Souls were converted in 
my meetings, but if any one reached this 
blessing, I never knew of it. In the fall 
of 1879, the Conference sent me to a 
charge where some of the members had 
the experience of full sanctification, and 
they testified to it in a convincing and 
unmistakable way. I knew I was con- 
verted, but I also knew that these persons 
had an experience that was beyond mine. 
I knew I could not stay there and feel at 
home without having what they had. I 
could not preach to them, about sixty or 
seventy in one class, and feel right, with- 
out an experience equal to theirs, at least. 
I was uncomfortable. It set me to hun- 
gering and thirsting in a manner before 
unknown to me. I sought definitely for 
the blessing of a clean heart, and, glory 
be to the great name of my God, I found 
it! On the 24th day of May, 1880, after 



198 METHODIST STANDARD 

careful examination and consciousness of 
entire consecration, by simply believing, 
for a present application, "The blood of 
Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth from all 
sin," I was able, by the grace of God, to 
step into that glorious liberty. I know 
what it is experimentally to love God with 
all my heart, soul, mind, and strength, 
and my neighbor as myself. I am solidly 
happy in the enjoyment of the perfect love 
of God. 

Creatures no more divide my choice, 

I bid them all depart : 
His name, his love, his gracious voice, 

Have fixed my roving heart. 



Jesus saves me, through and through. 

1 The blood that Jesus shed for me, 
When groaning, dying on the tree, 
From all transgressions cleanseth me, 

And saves me through and through. 
Chorus. — Saved, saved, yes, I am saved, 
My heart is created anew ; 
The blood of Jesus cleanseth me, 
And saves me through and through. 

2 In perfect trust I now resign 

My all to him, whose will is mine ; 
He fills my soul with love divine, 
And saves me through and through. 



HOLINESS GEMS. 199 

3 No angel tongue such praise can bring, 
Nor learn the song that now I sing, 
To him, my prophet, priest, and king, 

Who saves me through and through. 

4 I know not what my joys will be, 
When, face to face, my Lord I see : 
But this I know, he cleanseth me, 

And saves me through and through. 

Choice Selection—" Joy and Gladness." 



OLD AM) NEW TESTAMENT CONSPECTUS 

OF 

HOLINESS, FULL SALVATION, ENTIRE 
CLEANSING, ETC. 

Showing at a glance, open to the view, plain and obvious to 
the eye, manifest and easy to be seen, the full teachings 
of the Scriptures on this particular, important, and 
central point of doctrine. 

Motto. — Seek ye out of the book of the Lord, and read. 
Isaiah xxxiv : 16. * 

Gen. vi : 9. Noah was a just man and 
perfect. 

Walk before me, and be thou perfect. 

Ex. xv : 11. Who is like unto thee, 
Loed, among the gods? who is like thee, 
glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, do- 
ing wonders ? 

Ex. xix : 10. And the Loed said unto 
Moses, Go unto the people, and sanctify 
them to-day and to-morrow, and let them 
wash their clothes. 

11. And be ready against the third day : 
for the third day the Loed will come 
down in the sight of all the people upon 
mount Sinai. 



HOLIKESS GEMS. 201 

22. And let the priests also, which come 
near to the Loed, sanctify themselves, 
lest the Loed break forth upon them. 

Lev. xix : 2. Speak unto all the congre- 
tion of the children of Israel, and say unto 
them, Ye shall be holy : for I the Loed 
your God am holy. 

Lev. xx : 7. Sanctify yourselves, there- 
fore, and be ye holy : for I am the Loed 
your God. 

8. And ye shall keep my statutes, and do 
£hem: I am the Loed which sanctify you. 

Josh, vii : IS. Up, sanctify the people, 
and say, Sanctify yourselves against to- 
morrow : for thus saith the Loed God of 
Israel, There is an accursed thing in the 
midst of thee, Israel : thou canst not 
stand before thine enemies, until ye take 
away the accursed thing from among you. 

1 Chron. xvi : 29. Give unto the Loed 
the glory due unto his name : bring an 
offering, and come before him : worship 
the Loed in the beauty of holiness. 

1 Chron. xxviii : 9. And thou, Solo- 
mon my son, know thou the God of thy 
father, and serve him with a perfect heart 
and with a willing mind : for the Loed 
searcheth all hearts, and understandeth 



202 METHODIST STANDARD 

all the imaginations of the thoughts : if 
thou seek him, he will be found of thee : 
but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee 
off forever. 

1 Chron. xxix : 19. And give unto Sol- 
omon my son a perfect heart, to keep thy 
commandments, thy testimonies, and thy 
statutes, and to do all these things, and to 
build the palace, for the which I have 
made provision. 

2 Chron. xxx : 17. For there were many 
in the congregation that were not sancti- 
fied : therefore the Levites had the charge 
of the killing of the passovers for every 
one that was not clean, to sanctify them 
unto the Lord. 

2 Chron. xxxi : 18. And to the genealogy 
of all their little ones, their wives, and 
their sons, and their daughters, through 
all the congregation: for in their set office 
they sanctified themselves in holiness. 

Job i : 1. There was a man in the land 
of Uz, whose name was Job ; and that 
man was perfect and upright, and one 
that feared God, and eschewed evil. 

Job viii : 20. Behold, God will not cast 
away a perfect man, neither will he help 
the evil doers. 



HOLINESS GEMS. 203 

Ps. xviii : 82. It is God that girdeth 
me with strength, and maketh my way 
perfect. 

Ps. xxxvii : 87. Mark the perfect man, 
and behold the upright: for the end of 
that man is peace. 

Ps. li : 2. Wash me thoroughly from 
mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. 

7. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall 
be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter 
than snow. 

Ps. xciii : 5. Thy testimonies are very 
sure : holiness becometh thine house, 
Lord, forever. 

Ps. ci : 2. I will behave myself wisely 
in a perfect way. when wilt thou come 
unto me ? I will walk within my house 
with a perfect heart. 

6. Mine eyes shall be upon the faithful 
of the land, that they may dwell with me : 
he that walketh in a perfect way, he shall 
serve me. 

Ps. cxix : 1. Blessed are the undefiled 
in the way, who walk in the law of the 
Lord. 

2. Blessed are they that keep his testi- 
monies, and that seek him with the whole 
heart. 



204 METHODIST STANDARD 

S. They also do no iniquity : they walk 
in his ways. 

9. Wherewithal shall a young man 
cleanse his way ? by taking heed thereto 
according to thy word. 

Ps. cxxxviii : 8. The Lord will perfect 
that which concerneth me. 

Prov. ii : 21. For the upright shall dwell 
in the land, and the perfect shall remain 
in it. 

Prov. xi : 5. The righteousness of the 
perfect shall direct his way : but the wicked 
shall fall by his own wickedness. 

Isa. vi : 1. In the year that king Uzziah 
died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a 
throne, high and lifted up, and his train 
filled the temple. 

2. Above it stood the seraphim : each one 
had six wings ; with twain he covered his 
face, and with twain he covered his feet, 
and with twain he did fly. 

8. And one cried unto another, and said 
Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts ; the 
whole earth is full of his glory. 

1^. And the posts of the door moved at 
the voice of him that cried, and the house 
was filled with smoke. 

5. Then said I, Woe is me ! for I am un- 



HOLINESS GEMS. 205 

done ; because I am a man of unclean lips,, 
and I dwell in the midst of a people of un- 
clean lips : for mine eyes have seen the 
King, the Loed of hosts. 

6. Then flew one of the seraphim unto 
me, having a live coal in his hand, ivliich 
he had taken with the tongs from off the 
altar: 

7. And he laid it upon my mouth, and 
said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips ; and 
thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin 
purged. 

8. Also I heard the voice of the Lord, 
saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go 
for us ? Then said I, Here am I ; send me. 

Isa. xxvi : 3. Thou wilt keep him in per- 
fect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee : 
because he trusteth in thee. 

Isa. xxxv : 8. And a highway shall be 
there, and a way, and it shall be called The 
way of holiness ; the unclean shall not pass 
over it ; but it shall ~be for those : the way- 
faring men, though fools, shall not err 
therein. 

Isa. Hi : 11. Depart ye, depart ye, go ye 
out from thence, touch no unclean thing ; 
go ye out of the midst of her ; be ye clean, 
that bear the vessels of the Loed. 



206 METHODIST STANDARD 

Jer. vi : 16. Thus saith the Lokd, Stand 
ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old 
paths, where is the good way, and walk 
therein, and ye shall find rest for your 
souls. But they said, We will not walk 
therein. 

Ezek. xxxvi : 25. Then will I sprinkle 
clean water upon you, and ye shall be 
clean : from all your filthiness, and from 
all your idols, will I cleanse you. 

Mai. Hi : S. And he shall sit as a re- 
finer and purifier of silver : and he shall 
purify the sons of Levi, and purge them 
as gold and silver, that they may offer 
unto the Loed an offering in righteousness. 

Matt, v : Jf.8. Be ye therefore perfect, 
even as your Father which is in heaven is 
perfect. 

Matt, vi : 10. Thy will be done on earth, 
as it is in heaven. 

Matt, vii : 21. Not every one that saith 
unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the 
kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the 
will of my Father which is in heaven. 

Matt, viii :2 y 3. Lord, if thou wilt, thou 
canst make me clean. I will ; be thou 
clean. And immediately his leprosy was 
cleansed. 



HOLINESS GEMS. 207 

Matt, xix : 21. If thou wilt be perfect. 

Matt, xxiii : 19, 26. The altar that sanc- 
tifieth the gift. Cleanse first that which 
is within the cup and platter, that the out- 
side of them may be clean also. 

Marie i : 23, 25, 26, 27, lfi, £1, 42, U- 
A man with an unclean spirit. Jesus re- 
buked him, saying . . . come out of 
him. And ... he came out. With 
authority commandeth he even the un- 
clean spirits and they do obey him. Thou 
canst make me clean. Be thou clean. He 
was cleansed. Offer for thy cleansing. 

Mark vi : 20. Knowing that he was a 
just man, and a holy. 

Luke i : 75. In holiness and righteous- 
ness before him, all the days of our life. 

Luke iv : 86. He commandeth the un- 
clean spirits, and they come out. 

Luke v : 12, IS, 11^. Thou canst make me 
clean. Be thou clean. Immediately the lep- 
rosy departed. Offer for thy cleansing. 

Luke vi : Jfi. Every one that is perfect 
shall be as his master. 

Luke xvii : llf, 17. They were cleansed. 
Were there not ten cleansed ? 

John i : 29. Behold the Lamb of God, 
which taketh away the sin of the world ! 



208 METHODIST STANDARD 

John Hi : 25. Then there arose a ques- 
tion between some of John's disciples and 
the Jews about purifying. 

John vii : 17. If any man will do his 
will, he shall know of the doctrine. 

John viii : 11. Go, and sin no more. 

John x : 10. I am come that they might 
have life, and that they might have it 
more abundantly. 

John xi : 55. Purify themselves. 

John xiii : 10. Is clean every whit. 

John xv : 2. Every branch that beareth 
fruit, he purgeth it. 

John xvii : 17, 19, 23. Sanctify them 
through thy truth. That they also might 
be sanctified. That they may be made per- 
fect in one. 

Acts i : 8. Ye shall receive power after 
that the Holy Ghost is come upon you. 

Acts xi : 2Jf. Full of the Holy Ghost. 

Acts xiii : 22. Fulfill all my will. 

Acts xv : 9. Purifying their hearts by 
faith. 

Acts xviii : 26. Expounded unto him 
the way of God more perfectly. 

Acts xix :2. Have ye received the Holy 
Ghost since ye believed? 

Acts xx : 82. Inheritance among all 
them which are sanctified. 



HOLINESS GEMS. 209 

Acts xxi : 1£, 24, 26. The will of the 
Lord be done. Purify thyself. Purify- 
ing himself. Days of purification. 

Acts xxiv : 18. Purified in the temple. 

Acts xxvi : 18. Them which are sanc- 
tified. 

Rom. i : 4- Spirit of holiness. 

Rom. vi : 7, 11, IS, 18, 19, 22. Freed 
from sin. Eeckon ye also yourselves to be 
dead indeed unto sin. Yield yourselves 
unto God, as those that are alive from the 
dead. Free from sin. Yield your mem- 
bers servants to righteousness, unto holi- 
ness. Ye have your fruit unto holiness. 

Rom. vii : 12, 14, 20, 23, 24, 25. The law 
is holy, and the commandment holy, just, 
and good. I am carnal. If I do that I 
would not, it is no more I that do it, but 
sin that dwelleth in me. I see another 
law in my members, warring against the 
law of my mind. Who shall deliver me? 
Jesus Christ our Lord. 

Rom. viii : 2, 6, 7, 8, 9. For the law of 
the spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made 
me free from the law of sin and death. To 
be carnally minded is death. The carnal 
mind is enmity against God. They that 
are in the flesh cannot please God. But 



210 METHODIST STANDARD 

ye are not t in the flesh, but in the Spirit, 
if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in 
you. 

Rom. xii : 1, 2. Present your bodies a 
living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, 
which is your reasonable service. And be 
not conformed to this world ; but be ye 
transformed by the renewing of your 
mind, that ye may prove what is that 
good, and acceptable, and perfect will of 
God. 

Rom. xv : 16. That the offering up of 
the Gentiles might be acceptable, being 
sanctified by the Holy Ghost. 

Rom. xv : 29. I shall come in the full- 
ness of the blessing of the gospel of 
Christ. 

1 Cor. i : 10, SO. Be perfectly joined 
together in the same mind. Christ Jesus 
... is made unto us wisdom, and right- 
ousness, and sanctification, and redemp- 
tion. 

1 Cor. ii : 6, 12. We speak wisdom 
among them that are perfect. That we 
might know the things that are freely 
given to us of God. 

1 Cor. Hi : 1, 3, 1^. As unto carnal even 
as unto babes in Christ. Ye are yet carnal 



HOLIKESS GE&S. 211 

... are ye not carnal, and walk as men ? 
Are ye not carnal? 

1 Cor. xiii : 10. When that which is 
perfect is come. 

2 Cor. vii : 1. Let us cleanse ourselves 
from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, 
perfecting holiness in the fear of God. 

2 Cor. xii : 9. My strength is made 
perfect in weakness. 

2 Cor. xiii : 9, 11. This also we wish, 
even your perfection. Be perfect. 

Gal. Hi : 3. Having begun in the spirit, 
are ye now made perfect by the flesh ? 

Eph. i : If. -We should be holy and with- 
out blame before him in love. 

Eph. Hi : 19. Filled with all the full- 
ness of God. 

Eph. iv : 12, IS, 21^. Perfecting of the 
saints. A perfect man unto the measure 
of the stature of the fullness of Christ 
Eighteousness and true holiness. 

Eph. v : 26, 27. Sanctify and cleanse it 
with the washing of water by the word, 
that he might present it to himself a glo- 
rious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, 
or any such thing ; but that it should be 
holy and without blemish. 

Eph. vi : 11, IS. Put on the whole armor 



212 METHODIST STANDARD 

of God. Take unto you the whole armor 
of God. 

Phil. Hi : 15. Let us therefore as many 
as be perfect be thus minded. 

Col. i : 22, 28. To present you holy. We 
may present every man perfect in Christ 
Jesus. 

Col. Hi : 12, IS. Holy and beloved. 
Bond of perfectness. 

Col. iv : 12. Perfect and complete in all 
the will of God. 

1 Thess. ii : 10. How holily and justly 
and unblamably we behaved. 

1 Thess. Hi : 10, 13. Perfect that which 
is lacking in your faith. Stablish your 
hearts unblamable in holiness. 

1 Thess. iv : 3, 7, 12. This is the will of 
God, even your sanctification. God hath 
not called us unto uncleanness, but unto 
holiness. That ye may have lack of noth- 
ing. 

1 Thess. v : 23, 21^, 27. The very God of 
peace sanctify you wholly. Who also will 
do it. All the holy brethren. 

2 Thess. ii : 13. Salvation through sanc- 
tification of the Spirit. 

1 Tim. ii : 15. Continue in faith and 
charity and holiness. 



HOLINESS GEMS. 213 

1 Tim. iv : 12. Be thou an example of 
the believers ... in purity. 

2 Tim. ii : 21. Sanctified and meet for 
the Master's use. 

2 Tim. Hi : 17. The man of God may 
be perfect. 

Titus ii : 3, llf. As becometh holiness. 
Purify unto himself a peculiar people. 

Philemon vi. That the communication 
of thy faith may become effectual, by the 
acknowledging of every good thing which 
is in you, in Christ Jesus. 

Hei. ii : 3. How shall we escape, if we 
neglect so great salvation ? 

Hei. Hi : 1. Holy brethren. 

Hei. vi : 1. Leaving the principles of 
the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto 
perfection. 

Hei. vii : 11. If therefore perfection 
were by the Levitical priesthood, what 
further need ? 

Hei. vii : 19. For the law made nothing 
perfect ; but the bringing in of a better 
hope did. 

Hei. vii : 25, 26. He is able also to save 
them to the uttermost. Holy, harmless, 
undefiled, separate from sinners. 

Hei. ix : 3, 8. Holiest of all. Not yet 
made manifest. 



214 METHODIST STANDARD 

Heb. x : 1, 10, U, 19, 29. Make the 
comers thereunto perfect. We are sanc- 
tified. Them that are sanctified. Holiest. 
Wherewith he was sanctified. 

Heb. xi : Ifi. They without us should not 
be made perfect. 

Heb. xii : 10. Partakers of his holi- 
ness. Follow peace . . . and holi- 
ness, without which no man shall see the 
Lord. 

Heb. xiii : 12, 21. That he might sanc- 
tify the people with his own blood. Make 
you perfect in every good work, to do his 
will. 

James i : If, 25, 27. Perfect and entire, 
wanting nothing. Perfect law of liberty. 
Pure religion and undefiled. 

James Hi : 2. A perfect man. 

James iv : 8. Purify your hearts, ye 
double-minded. 

1 Pet. i : 15, 16, 22. As he which hath 
called you is holy, so be ye holy. Be ye 
holy : for I am holy. Ye have purified 
your souls, . . . love one another with a 
pure heart fervently. 

1 Pet. Hi : 5. After this manner in the 
old time the holy women, also, who trusted 
in God, adorned themselves. 



HOLINESS GEMS. 215 

1 Pet. v : 10. Make you perfect, stab- 
lish, strengthen, settle you. 

2 Pet. i : 21. Holy men of God spake 
as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. 

2 Pet. tii : 11. What manner of persons 
ought ye to be, in all holy conversation 
and godliness. 

1 John i : 7. The blood of Jesus Christ 
his Son cleanseth us from all sin. 

1 John ii : 1, 5. Sin not. The love of 
God perfected. 

1 John Hi : 3, 6, 8, 9. Purifieth himself 
even as he is pure. Whosoever abideth in 
him sinneth not. He that committeth sin 
is of the devil. Whosoever is born of God 
doth not commit sin. 

1 John iv : 12, 17, 18. His love is per- 
fected in us. Herein is our love made 
perfect. He that feareth is not made 
perfect in love. 

Rev. xviii : 20. Ye holy apostles and 
prophets. 

Rev. xix : 8. Fine linen, clean and 
white, . . . the righteousness of saints. 

Rev. xx : 6. Blessed and holy is he that 
hath part in the first resurrection. 

Rev. xxii : 11. He that is holy, let him 
be holy still. 



216 METHODIST STANDARD 



RECAPITULATION, CLASSIFICATION, AND 
GENERALIZATION. 

Noah was perfect (Gen. vi : 9). 

Asa was perfect (1 Kings xv : 14). 

Hezekiah was perfect (2 Kings xx : 3). 

Job was perfect (Job i : 1). 

David was perfect (1 Kings xv : 3 ; 
2 Sam. xxii : 33). 

Various Israelites (1 Chron. xii : 38 ; 
xxix : 9). 

Abraham is commanded to be (Gen. 
xvii : 1). 

David exhorts us to "mark the per- 
fect" (Psa. xxxvii:37). 

The wicked shoot at the perfect (Psa. 
lxiv : 4). 

Solomon blamed for losing perfection 
(1 Kings xi : 4). 

David walks with a perfect heart (Psa. 
ci : 2). 

David exhorts Solomon to be perfect 
(1 Chron. xxviii : 9). 

God's people exhorted to be perfect 
(1 Kings viii : 61). 

God's people required to love God per- 
fectly (Deut. vi : 5). 

Jesus required perfection (Matt, v : 48). 



HOLINESS GEMS. 217 

The Young Ruler was required to be 
perfect (Matt, xix : 21). 

Some,, including Paul, were perfect 
(Phil, iii : 15). 

John professed perfect love (1 John 
iv : 17). 

Paul visited churches to perfect them 
(1 Thess. iii : 10). 

Paul prayed for the perfection of the 
Hebrews (Heb. xiii : 2). 

Paul's strength was made perfect (2 
Cor. xii : 9). 

The Gospel brings perfection (Heb. 
vii : 19). 

Abraham's faith was perfect (Jas. ii: 22). 

Fear is cast out by perfect love (1 John 
iv : 18). 

Paul speaks to the perfect (1 Cor. 
ii : 6). 

Love is "perfected by obedience (1 John 
ii : 5). 

Love perfected by God dwelling in us 
(1 John iv : 12). 

We may know God's perfect will (Rom. 
xii : 1). 

God's will done on earth as it is in 
heaven (Matt, vi : 10). 

Colossians prayed for, that they may 



218 METHODIST STANDAKD 

stand perfect and complete in all God's 
will (Col. iv : 12). 

Paul claims perfection (1 Thess. ii : 10). 

" Here are examples of what God says 
on the subject of perfection ; and from it 
we learn : 

" 1. That some sort of perfection is 
taught in the Scriptures. 

" 2. That, whatever that perfection may 
imply, we are commanded to possess it. 

"3. That it may be possessed by all, 
because it has actually been possessed by 
some. 

"4. The fair inference is, that as God is 
no respecter of persons, the perfection of 
the Bible may be the perfection of all 
believers. 

" The wise course to be pursued, is not 
to deny and reject the doctrine and expe- 
rience of perfection, but to accept it, and 
earnestly seek for its true meaning and 
conscious experience. This will settle all 
disputes." 

I hope to meet you all in glory. 

1 I hope to meet you all in glory, 

When the storms of life are o'er; 

I hope to tell the dear old story, 

On the blessed, shining shore. 



HOLINESS GEMS. 219 

Chorus. 

On the shining shore, on the golden strand, 
In our Father's home, in the happy land, 

I hope to meet you there, 

I hope to meet you there, 

A crown of vict'ry wear, 
In glory. 

2 I hope to meet you all in glory, 

By the tree of life so fair, 
I hope to praise our dear Redeemer, 
For the grace that brought us there. 

3 I hope to meet you all in glory, 

Round the Saviour's throne above; 
I hope to join the ransomed army, 
Singing now redeeming love. 

4 I hope to meet you all in glory, 

When our work on earth is o'er ; 
I hope to clasp your hands, rejoicing, 
On the bright, eternal shore. 

Revival Wave. 



Meet me there. 

On the happy, golden shore, 
Where the faithful part no more, 
When the storms of life are o 'er, 

Meet me there ; 
Where the night dissolves away 
Into pure and perfect day, 
I am going home to stay, 

Meet me there. 



220 METHODIST STANDARD 

Chorus. 

Meet me there, 

Meet me there, 
Where the tree of life is blooming, 

Meet me there ; 
When the storms of life are o'er, 
On the happy, golden shore, 
Where the faithful part no more, 

Meet me there. 

2 Here our fondest hopes are vain, 
Dearest links are rent in twain, 
But in heaven no throb of pain, 

Meet me there; 
By the river sparkling bright, 
In the city of delight, 
Where our faith is lost in sight, 

Meet me there. 

3 Where the harps of angels ring, 
And the blest forever sing, 

In the palace of the King, 

Meet me there; 

Where in sweet communion blend, 

Heart with heart and friend with friend 

In a world that ne'er shall end, 

Meet me there. 

Revival Wave 



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